


Avatar: Legacy of the Past - Book 1: Rebirth

by Lightning189



Series: Avatar: Legacy of the Past [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Adventure, Airbending & Airbenders, Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Earthbending & Earthbenders, Firebending & Firebenders, Gen, Republic City, Waterbending & Waterbenders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:00:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 50,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27917878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lightning189/pseuds/Lightning189
Summary: Decades have passed since the time of the One Hundred Year War, and The Four Nations now live in harmony with one another, but there are still those who seek to usurp the powers before them, operating from the shadows to overthrow their rulers.One such city is suffering from this crisis: Republic City.Avatar Aang has passed away, and the torch is handed to the next Avatar.The Four Nations eagerly await their arrival, to bring Order to the coming Chaos. (Book 1/4)
Series: Avatar: Legacy of the Past [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2044300
Collections: Avatar: The Last Airbender





	1. Beginning anew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Avatar Aang has passed away, and the torch has been passed, but who to? Talos? Son of Unalaq, or Claire? Daughter of a foreigner.

We've all heard the stories. About how Avatar Aang and his friends ended the one hundred year war, attempted to restore harmony between the nations, and even went searching for Zuko's lost mother. But they never tell you what happened after that, and I mean what _really_ happened.

Forty-four Years have passed since the good old days of Avatar Aang and his friends. During those decades, Fire Lord Zuko and Avatar Aang transformed the oldest Fire Nation colonies into the United Republic of Nations, where a metropolis by the name of Republic City became its capital, a place that people of all nations could call home. Aang even married Katara, starting a family with her and conceiving three children: Bumi, a non-bender and the firstborn. Kya a Water-Bender and middle child of the three and lastly Tenzin an Air-bender, the youngest of their children.

Aang spent a lot of his time gathering stories and mementoes for Tenzin, hoping to push the lineage of the Air Nomads into him, due to his second responsibility of preserving Air Nomad culture. Although he put most of his parental efforts into Tenzin, he still made time for the rest of his family.

But even so, Kya became distant from her father, growing more attached to her mother, Katara, whilst Bumi, on the other hand, became more attached to his uncle Sokka. But despite that, Aang still did his utmost to spend time with his family, taking Bumi and Sokka on unauthorised rides on Omashu's postal system, and bringing the family Elephant Koi sailing at Kyoshi island.

Over the years Aang helped keep the peace in Republic City but due to The one hundred years, Aang had spent frozen in an iceberg while in the Avatar State, much of his inherent life energy had drained away and by his later years, the strain of this weighed heavily upon his body. With his health failing and sensing the Spirit of Death looming over him, Aang tasked the Order of the White Lotus to search for and watch over the next Avatar, and at the biologically young age of Fifty-six Avatar Aang passed away along with his Sky Bison Appa. But on the day of his death, two children were born into the Northern Water tribe, Claire and Talos.

Claire's hair is as white as the snow that surrounded them and her eyes an emerald green. She is the daughter to a Northern Water Tribe woman, and a man exiled from a land outside the four nations. Talos' hair is black as the night sky, and his eyes an amethyst purple, he is the son to Chief Unalaq and his wife, and upon hearing of a child born on the same day as his own, Unalaq considered Claire's parents and Claire herself, family.

Claire and Talos quickly became friends, and by the ages of Eleven, they discovered they possessed the ability to Water-Bend.

The two trained together, the years flowing by, the two becoming borderline masters together, learning from the tribe's masters and sparring day in and day out.

A week after their Sixteenth Birthday, Four members from The Order of The White Lotus, accompanied by Toph and Katara arrived at the Northern Water Tribe: Tenzin son of Aang, a tall slender man with a long beard, bald head and Master air-bender tattoos. Kya a somewhat elderly looking woman with long grey hair and teal coloured eyes, Ho Tun a hefty earth-bender with brown hair and a lovable aura about him, and lastly Shu, an elderly man sporting a traditional fire nation beard and topknot. The White Lotus ventured to the North pole, intending to request council with their chief: Unalaq, an elderly man with long brown hair and pale blue eyes.

The White Lotus entered the icy halls of Unalaq's throne room, the air of the room sending a chill down their spines. Unalaq Raised an eyebrow to their unannounced arrival, clearing his throat and sitting up straight to greet them.

"The Order of the White Lotus? Shouldn't you be hiding in some dingy tavern in the middle of nowhere?" Unalaq mockingly asked as Tenzin approached.

"We save that for the weekend." Tenzin jested before clearing his throat, "Right now, we are searching for the next Avatar, we've already investigated the South Pole, and there are no signs of them down there."

Toph, now elderly but still as strong as ever, stepped forward, "I've investigated the Foggy Swamp... just in case the Avatar Spirit had any funny ideas and got reborn into one of those dunderheads."

Unalaq clenched his fist, taking a deep breath as he glared at the White Lotus, "There are... two candidates," Unalaq begrudgingly said, but before The reluctant Chief could continue, a large explosive sound roared in the distance, shaking the foundation of the throne room and throwing everyone off balance, "I think that's them now."

Unalaq rose from his throne, escorting The White Lotus, Katara and Toph to where Claire and Talos usually trained. Off in the distance, they could see, except for Toph, a gigantic plume of snow in the sky.

Kya leaned in towards Tenzin, nudging him with an eager stare, "That looks like Avatar level bending," she told him as Unalaq and the others ventured forth into Claire and Talos' sparring grounds.

Claire, a woman with a white-haired ponytail, green eyes, a fair complexion and slim eyebrows. Wearing a sleeveless blue shirt with a cyan stripe around the collar, part of it going across her chest. Her pants baggy and black, and she wore brown boots with a fluffy lining around the top. And Talos, a man with a black-haired warrior's wolf tail, the sides of his head partially shaven, purple eyes and a small amount of stubble running along his face. He wore a fluffy navy blue coat with black pants and navy boots with a fluffy lining.

The two stood atop ascending chunks of ice high in the sky amongst the snow plume, other ice chunks of varying sizes ascending around them. The rivals smirked at each other as Claire whipped out a tendril of water at Talos, but the prince heartily laughed, bending the tendril to his will, freezing the end and snatching it before dragging Claire off her chunk of ice.

Claire flew through the air, hurtling towards Talos as he raised his fist, ready to strike, but the White-haired water-bender smirked, sliding on her knees along the ice chunk as she landed, pointing her arms above her head and sliding between Talos' legs, cheekily winking whilst he raised a quizzical eyebrow to her.

Claire leapt back up, kicking Talos, the Prince stumbling forward before twisting around, slashing his left arm out and unleashing a crescent of water, smacking Claire's gut and launching her across to another ice chunk, her weight rapidly spinning it around as she dug her fingers in.

"Looks like I win again, Claire!" Talos proudly proclaimed as he watched her ice chunk spin.

But as it spun one last time, Claire had vanished, Talos' heart skipping a beat, looking around for his friend. Claire had leapt off the spinning ice chunk, briefly freezing her boots to the ice with each sprinting step along the sides of the now descending ice chunks, the snowy plume concealing her from Talos as he searched for her.

The White-haired Water-bender ascended to the highest point above Talos, leaping from the ice chunk head first, outstretching her arms and whizzing around, the snow bending to her will as she launched bullets of water at Talos.

"WOOHOO!!" Claire exclaimed at the top of her lungs as she spiralled down toward Talos.

The Prince's eyes widening as he looked up, seeing his friend spiral down with her attack, "You cheeky little-!" Talos exclaimed as the bullets of water struck him and the ice chunk.

The Ice shattered the platform, sending Talos plummeting to the ground, and as he came close to the icy ground, Claire bent the ice beneath him, thickening the water as the prince hit it, his form moulding around it before spitting him out.

The Prince sat up, clasping his head whilst Claire descended, pulling up a spiral of ice and grinding down it whilst heartily chuckling to herself.

"Score for Claire! I'm up one!" She proclaimed as she landed, raising an index finger to Talos as the Prince flipped back onto his feet.

"Where did you learn to count? We're even!" Talos spoke, partially annoyed by Claire's antics, "And if it weren't for your white hair and pale complexion, I would've spotted you amongst that snow!"

Claire crossed her arms and shrugged, "Blame my Dad for that," Claire replied with a smirk, the two hearing the trudging of several footsteps approach them.

"That's enough you two, I swear one of these days you're going to kill one another!" Unalaq told them.

Talos smirked, walking towards his father with head held high, "You need not worry father, do you really think Claire can kill me? I'm the Avatar after all!"

Claire walked up behind the Prideful Prince as she stretched her arms, "Besides, Talos is too much of a softy to try killing me." Claire sarcastically said as Talos bent the water to his will, planning to show Claire a thing or two.

"Enough!" Unalaq shouted as he overpowered Talos' bending.

The two Water-benders let out a heavy sigh as they looked to the ground, "Apologies, Father," Talos mutter, "Sorry, Chief," Claire replied.

The chief shook his head, sighing before turning to the White Lotus, "The people before you are members of The White Lotus Order. They are here in search of the Avatar,"

Talos lifted his head, smiling and strutting towards Tenzin, Kya, Ho Tun, Shu, Toph and Katara, "Well, look no further my friends. For you have found your Avatar!"

Toph approached Talos, turning her old blind eyes in his direction, "What makes you so sure? Were you bending multiple elements while still in diapers?"

The prideful facade of Talos briefly shattered as Claire contained her laughter, "No... I wasn't..." Talos replied as he looked to Toph, "But I can feel the power of the Avatar Spirit coursing through my veins every time Claire and I spar, I can feel as if at any moment I could sever the earth, bend the air to my will, or unleash a roaring wave of flames from my fists."

Tenzin stepped forward, pulling out several items wrapped in cloth, "Well, to determine whether or not you are. I have brought four relics with us. They belonged to Past Avatars, and due to the connection between Avatars you should be able to recognise them."

Tenzin unravelled the Relics, and upon observing them Talos looked at him with a confident smile, "Yes, I recognise these!"

Katara curiously looked to Toph as the blind earth-bender wiggled her toes, "Is he telling the truth?"

Toph lightly groaned as she sensed Talos, "I can't tell if he's lying or not, Seismic sense doesn't work so well on Ice."

Claire stepped forward, the snow crunching underfoot as her intrigue of the relics pulled her in. Toph heard her approach, turning her head to the curious water-bender, "And here comes the girl!"

Katara raised an eyebrow to her friend, smugly crossing her arms as she did, "I thought you said your Seismic Sense didn't work so well on ice?"

"I'm blind, not deaf. I can hear when someone's walking," Toph snapped back, spooking Katara.

Toph shuffled in between Tenzin and the two water-benders, "Stand aside, Junior, I think I have a better way of finding out which one of these two is our Avatar!"

Toph stood firmly before the two water-benders, "Now I'm going to ask you two several questions, and I want you both to answer... and only Aang, me and his friends would know the answer to these, so by extension. One of you should know them if either of you is the Avatar."

"I'll play your games, but it is a waste of time," Talos replied.

"I'll go along with it as well," Claire replied.

Toph happily nodded, "Question one!" Toph said as she raised one finger, "What is the name of Aang's Sky Bison?"

"Appa!" Claire and Talos said in unison.

The disgruntled earth-bender scratched her chin whilst everyone else looked around, "I suppose that wasn't the best one to start off with, due to Appa's popularity. Ho Tun over there even owns an Appa Plushie he got from Republic City," she chuckled.

Everyone turned to look at Ho Tun as the hefty White Lotus member looked back, "What? He's adorable!"

"Question Two!" Toph said as she raised two fingers, "Who was Aang's Air-bending Teacher?"

Talos couldn't think of the name, but after a few seconds of Silence Claire muttered "Monk Gyatso".

Toph heard the mutterings of Claire, turning her attention to the Water-bender, "Speak up!"

"Monk Gyatso!" Claire spoke aloud.

Talos looked at Claire in disbelieve before turning back to Toph, worry coiling its way around him, "Continue with the questions!"

Toph smiled, "Question three!" she said, raising three fingers "What are the names of Aang's three other bending teachers?"

The questions made Talos break into a nervous sweat, " _Why... Why don't I know this?!"_ Talos thought to himself, his muscles tensing as he looked at Claire.

"You were his Earth-bending teacher, Fire Lord Zuko was his Fire-bending Teacher and his Wife Katara was his Water-Bending teacher," Claire said, surprised that she knew.

The Prince of shattered ego glared at her, his teeth gritting, " _No... it can't be!"_ Talos thought.

Toph took a deep breath, "Last Question!" She said as Talos violently twisted around, glaring at Toph with a desperate gaze, "What was... my nickname for Aang?"

"Baldy!" Talos blurted out in desperation, pointing his finger to Toph.

The Earth-Bender grimaced at Talos' feeble attempt before turning her attention to Claire. After a moment of Silence, Claire accepted reality, "Twinkle Toes," she said.

Toph fondly smiled, a tear building in her eye, "It's good to see you again, Twinkle Toes," she said to Claire, the new Avatar unconsciously smiling back.

Talos stood paralysed on the spot, " _No! NO! It can't be! Claire?! The Avatar?!"_ Talos thought to himself, his pride utterly shattered.

The White Lotus approached Claire, "Your journey to becoming the Avatar begins now, Claire. Please say farewell to your people and come with us to The White Lotus Compound," Tenzin told Claire.

Claire nodded, turning her attention to Talos, "I guess this is goodbye, Talos," Claire said, remorse brewing within her.

Talos' body shook all over as he raised his head to look at Claire, "I suppose... it is," he replied, his fist clenching.

"Goodbye, Chief," Claire said with a bow.

"Goodbye, Claire," Unalaq replied, his tone riddled with an unseen annoyance.

Claire and The White Lotus ventured into the Northern Water Tribe, leaving Talos collapsed on his knees, shame washing over him as Unalaq dropped to his side to console him, "I'm sorry... Son, I don't know how the sages managed to get it wrong..." The Chief told him, looking to Claire with a disgruntled glare.

Talos gritted his teeth as his head hung low, "It seems even the sages can be... wrong."

Claire and the White Lotus ventured into the Town of ice and snow, returning home one last time to bid farewell to her parents, "Would you guys mind waiting here whilst I say goodbye?" Claire asked.

"We're in no rush, Avatar. Take as long as you need," Katara replied. Claire smiled as she opened the front door and stepped inside.

As the door shut, Toph looked to Katara, "You might not be in a rush, but me and my feet are."

Claire ventured into the living room of the house, a silent ambience filling the room as she saw her father: a Muscular foreign man with short dark brown hair and stubbly facial hair, and eyes of emerald green, like Claire's.

Her father threw some wood into a fire, filling the air with the fragrance of burnt wood. Looking around to see Claire stood nervously in the doorway, "Is everything all right, lassie?"

Claire let out a heavy sigh, "Well... In a way... is mother around?"

Claire's father stood up straight, "Aye, hold a moment," He replied, clearing his throat, "Norrak, Claire's got something to tell us!"

Norrak perked up from her rest, "Coming, Joseph!" She called back.

Norrak came flying down the stairs, her shoulder-length hair white as snow and her eyes a vibrant blue.

Claire stood between her parents, both curiously looking to her, "Would you like to sit down before telling us?" Joseph asked.

Claire slowly nodded, "That... might be a good idea."

Norrak and Joseph sat down on a long leather couch whilst Claire sat in front of them on a rickety wooden chair, "Now, what did you want to tell us?" Norrak asked.

"It's not that Talos again, is it?" Joseph asked.

"Well... no..." Claire replied, struggling to find the words.

The three sat in silence, and as they did, Toph's voice boomed from outside, "WHAT IS TAKING SO LONG?!"

Claire's parents both looked to one another, then to the visibly nervous Claire, "Perhaps... they can explain better," Claire told them as she walked to the door.

Claire opened the door, seeing the White Lotus still there, "Would you mind coming in to... explain to my parents?"

"Certainly, Avatar!" Shu replied. Norrak and Joseph's eyes widened upon hearing him mention 'Avatar'.

Claire guided the order, Toph and Katara inward to the Living room, presenting them to her parents, "Claire... what's going on here exactly?" Joseph asked.

Tenzin stepped forward, clearing his throat as he approached, "My father: Avatar Aang. Passed away sixteen years ago. He tasked The Order of the White Lotus to find the Avatar, and that would be your daughter."

Claire's parents stared at them blankly, "Yer pulling our legs, right? The Avatar's supposed to be Talos, everyone in the town knows that," Joseph replied.

"That boy isn't the Avatar, she is though," Toph said as she gestured to Claire, "She aced my little Avatar test."

Joseph and Norrak stood up, looking to Claire, then the White Lotus, "So... what ye're telling us is, me and my wife here busted out an Avatar?" Joseph asked.

"Yes," Shu replied bluntly.

Norrak and Joseph became suddenly ecstatic, "Our Daughter's the Avatar!" The two cheered to each other as Claire awkwardly stared at them.

The two stopped as they looked to the White Lotus, "What happens now?" Norrak asked.

"The Avatar will have to depart with us to the White Lotus compound," Shu informed them.

Her now disheartened parents let out a united sigh before turning to Claire, raising their arms to her, causing Claire to rush in and hugged them both.

"I'm sure you'll do great things, Dear," Norrak told her.

"Keep in mind, yer name may sound a wee bit odd to the people out there," Joseph replied.

"Because it's not a traditional Water tribe name?" Claire asked.

"Yep, but it's a lovely name from my land!" Joseph replied with a grin.

Claire and her parents released their hug, "Goodbye, Mother! Goodbye, Father!"

"Farewell," Shu told her parents on behalf of the White Lotus before they departed with Claire.

As they walked through the Northern Water Tribe, citizens of the town all bid Claire farewell, following her to the boat and waving her goodbye as they boarded, beginning their journey back to the White Lotus Compound.

"Can I go back to the swamp now?" Toph asked.

"Yes Toph, you can go back to the swamp," Katara replied.

"Great, I'm sick of the ice," Toph told them as the boat sailed away from the North Pole.

Talos stood atop an icy cliff, watching them leave, his breathing ragged the further they sailed away, clenching his fists, his muscles tensing.

Claire turned around on the boat to see Talos stood atop the cliff in the distance, breathing out a heavy sigh as her posture slumped, "I'm sorry, Talos..."

Night fell upon the North Pole, Claire now long gone. Talos ventured through the cold streets of the town, venturing towards Unalaq's Icy fortress, the guards standing aside for him as they approached.

"Greetings Prince Talos," A guard told him with a tip of his wolf shaped hat, but Talos remained silent, gritting his teeth.

Talos marched inwards, approaching Unalaq as he sat atop his throne, "Talos... are you all right?" Unalaq asked him, sitting up straight as he lay his arms along the throne.

"Why did you and the sages lie to me!?" Talos snarled, his fists clenched as he glared at his father.

Taken aback by his son's words, Unalaq rose from his throne, "The stone shone for you, we were certain you were the Avatar... and you possessed su-"

"SILENCE!" Talos shouted.

The Chief grimaced at his son with his fists clenched, "You do not speak like that to me, boy!" Unalaq retorted, bending part of the ice beneath him into water, launching it towards Talos.

But The angered prince raised his arms to his father's attack, parting the water to his side and turning it to ice, "You will not control how I speak! You and the sages lied to me! Filled me with hopes that I would be more than just some chieftain's son! And because of you, I embarrassed myself before Claire and The White Lotus!"

Rage boiled in Talos, his fists remained clenched whilst Unalaq glared at his son, marching towards him, "Clearly... you weren't worthy of the Avatar Spirit," Unalaq said, stopping at an arm's length from Talos.

The confused Prince's eyes widened upon hearing his father's words, his muscles tensing up as he glared into Unalaq's eyes, "You put on a prideful and respectful facade, but when that's broken away, you turn into a shallow snowflake, too fragile to accept reality!"

Unalaq gazed down to Talos with an indifferent gaze, a lump built in the Prince's throat, a single tear streaking from his eye as he looked to Unalaq.

Talos swiftly erupted a geyser of water beneath Unalaq, blasting his father into the air: falling back down onto his stomach and grunting in pain as he hit the floor, "I will become The Avatar! I will right the wrongs of this blighted Universe! I will become the True Avatar!" Talos violently proclaimed, glaring down at his father.

Unalaq attempted to stand but collapsed, watching Talos march out of the fortress.


	2. Rock Solid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire begins her Earth-Bending training

After returning Toph to the Foggy Swamp, Claire and The White Lotus docked at the White Lotus Compound, the smell of the ocean filled the air as they walked through the echoey metal tunnel. Jinora, Tenzin's daughter and air-bender in training, who barely measured up to Tenzin's waist, her brown hair styled into a bun to the left side of her head, and her eyes were a light shade of brown greeted them at the entrance.

Tenzin and Claire gazed down to Jinora, "This is Jinora, Claire. Jinora, this is Claire," Tenzin introduced them.

Jinora intriguingly stared at Claire, "This is the Avatar?"

"She is indeed," Tenzin replied as Jinora continued staring.

"Does this make her my grandpa?" Jinora curiously asked.

Tenzin raised his finger as he took a deep breath, about to dispute the claim, but upon realising Claire is, in fact, Aang's reincarnation, the bemused Air-bender placed a hand to his beard, "In a way... I suppose she is."

Kya tapped the pondering Tenzin on the shoulder, "Come on, we should show The Avatar around the Compound."

Tenzin nodded his head, leading Claire into the Compound with Jinora, Ho Tun, Shu and Katara in tow.

They emerged onto a large metal structure, surrounded by four different bodies of land, the one to the right of Claire's vision looked reminiscent of The Air temples around the world, and the one to the left appeared to represent Fire Nation training grounds, as she turned around, she saw a large plain of ice and water to the right and a mountainous terrain surrounded by earth and metal to the left. And between the Fire Nation training ground and the Air temple stood a large, imposing metal structure which looked to be living quarters.

The Elemental Masters stood before Claire, "So, what do you think?" Tenzin asked as Claire took in her surroundings.

"This kinda looks like a... fancy Prison Rig," Claire commented.

Katara approached Claire, patting her on the shoulder, "It used to be a Fire Nation Prison Rig for Earth-benders. But Aang, Toph, Zuko, Sokka, and I refurbished it,"

Upon hearing Katara's explanation, Claire twisted around, looking to them with a standoffish gaze, "Why am I being locked up here? I thought being the Avatar meant going on a journey and exploring the world!"

Tenzin approached the confused, protesting Avatar, "You'll be able to explore the world, but only once you've learnt more than just water-bending," he reassured her.

Claire let out a partially annoyed sigh, "Okay, which element will I be learning first?" Claire replied, trying to ignore her seeming imprisonment.

"You'll start off by learning Earth," Ho Tun informed her as the rest of the White Lotus left for the Metal building.

Claire walked over to the Mountainous terrain, to begin learning Earth-bending from Ho Tun, once a student of Toph and now Master to Claire.

The two stood before the gigantic mountain, with pieces of scrap metal placed around the area. The crashing of waves against the terrain filled the background as the salty scent of the ocean filled the air. Claire had changed from her blue sleeveless shirt into Earth Kingdom attire. Claire now adorned herself with a Green sleeveless shirt, gold material coursing around the shoulders and neck, dark green pants and grey boots covered her lower body.

"Earth is the element of substance, and the key to utilising Earth-bending properly is Neutral Jing," Ho Tun explained.

Claire raised an eyebrow to his statement, "What's Neutral Jing?" The curious Avatar asked, hoping to learn.

Ho Tun briefly smiled at her eagerness to learn, "Neutral Jing is when you do nothing. Waiting for the right moment to strike, and when that moment comes: You must strike decisively," Ho Tun explained.

Claire nodded, understanding what he meant, "This sounds like it's going to be easy."

"I'm glad you think so!" Ho Tun replied as he launched himself to the top of the mountain.

Claire's gaze shot up, surprise flooding her eyes as Ho Tun landed atop the mountain, rolling a Boulder that dwarfed him and Claire to the edge of the mountain's top, "I picked this one up from Master Toph!" Ho tun shouted.

Claire's knees quaked at the sight of the boulder, "Don't you think that's a bit... much?!" Claire shouted.

"No!" Ho Tun nonchalantly replied as he placed himself in a firm stance, kicking his leg towards the boulder, causing it to roll down the mountain at a lethal pace.

Claire watched the boulder storm towards her, the deafening roar of its charge permeated the air as Claire thought to herself, _"So, this is how I die. At the hands of a crazy earth-bender,"_ Claire let out a begrudging sigh and placed herself in a firm stance.

Claire pulled water up from the ocean beside them, attaching it to her hands, making it into a tendril extension of her body.

The Boulder charged ever closer to her, but Claire swiped the Tendril of water upwards like a blade, slicing through the hardened boulder as it continued towards her, splitting in half and rolling off the sides of the earthy terrain.

Claire stood amazed as the Ocean water blasted into the air from the boulder's force. Ho Tun surfed down the mountain and over to Claire, "I wasn't expecting Water-bending, but you thought like an Earth-bender. And that's a splendid start, Avatar!"

Claire grinned, utterly pleased with herself before the two moved onto more simple Earth-bending training.

Ho Tun pointed to a solid piece of ground in front of them, "Stand there."

The bemused Claire walked over and faced Ho Tun, and as she did, he erected two stone pillars beneath Claire's feet, both just wide enough for her to balance on.

The surprised Avatar quickly gained her balance as she glared down at Ho Tun, "A warning would be nice next time."

Ho Tun chuckled at her comment, "You need to prepare for this world, Avatar. No one will announce their intentions or attacks to you," he explained to her as he kicked the ground and pushed a rock with handles up to her.

Claire grabbed the rock whilst grumbling at her master's response, knowing she couldn't make an argument to it, "What do you want me to do with this?" Claire asked as she held the rock in her hands.

"Throw it up and down whilst catching it and remember: Stay Sturdy!" Ho Tun told her.

Claire nodded and began throwing the Rock up, letting it drop then catching it, but as she did, she spotted Ho Tun walking underneath her, _"He's up to something..."_ Claire thought to herself.

She caught the rock with both hands, preparing for Ho Tun's smacking of both pillars, sending tremors up towards Claire, but she remained stable, "Very Good!" Ho Tun gleefully said.

Claire repeated the exercise for an hour whilst Ho Tun smacked the sides of the stone at random intervals, and upon noticing The Avatar's will wearing thin, Ho Tun lowered her back down, surprising Claire as she fell on her back, "You're good at thinking like an Earth-bender."

"I can be quite a down-to-earth person," Claire jested, to which Ho Tun let out a fake laugh.

The two moved onto the last of Claire's training for the day. Before Claire stood a spherical rock about the same size as herself, Claire looked at it, then at Ho Tun, "Are you going to try killing me with this one too?"

"No," Ho Tun replied with a smile, "For the last test of the day," Ho Tun held up his arms towards the rock, "You shall move this rock!" He said, like a presenter on a radio show.

Claire observed the boulder, confidence brimming as she thought about the task before her, "That seems simple enough!"

Ho Tun moved to the side, giddiness overwhelming him, eager to see how well Claire had progressed.

The Avatar took a sturdy stance and thrust her fist outwards, but as she did, the rock simply tilted over and Claire stared at the rock with a blank expression: she had no words to match her disappointment.

Ho Tun stood next to the Embarrassment paralysed Claire, "That was like a fire navy Trebuchet... but with a lot less 'Boom'."

Claire sighed heavily and tried to move the boulder once more, however it barely moved. Claire hung her head, expecting to do better than what she did.

However, Ho tun placed his hand on her shoulder, "don't worry, Avatar. If memory serves me right, you're making faster progress than Aang did during his Earth-bending training."

Claire perked up from hearing Ho Tun's words, "Thank you, Master Ho Tun," Claire smiled as she bowed to him.

"We'll continue in the morning, for now. Let's eat: I could eat an entire Sabre-toothed Moose Lion right now," Ho Tun said as he rubbed his round gut.

"Me too!" Claire replied with a short laugh, having no idea what a Sabre-toothed Moose Lion is as they returned to the large building.

One year passed by and Claire became a novice Earth-bender.

Claire Stood on the mountainous terrain, practising her earth-bending as she awaited Ho Tun's arrival, "Avatar!" Ho Tun called out to her as he approached.

Claire dropped the boulder she was bending and turned around to see Ho Tun, "Master Ho Tun!" Claire smiled, "What took you so long?"

"I overslept a little... don't tell Shu, he'll scold me," Ho Tun replied as he walked up to Claire, placing himself before her with his hands behind his back.

"So, what will I be learning today?" Claire asked in an excited tone.

Ho Tun pulled his hands out from behind his back, revealing a small chunk of iron to the Avatar, "I'm going to let you dabble in Metal-bending!" Ho Tun said as he presented the Iron.

"Metal-bending?" Claire asked as she curiously gazed at the Iron.

"Yes!" Ho Tun replied, kicking up a pedestal of earth and placing the Iron atop it, "I learnt Metal-bending from Master Toph! It's quite an interesting sub-skill."

Ho Tun stood before Claire and the Iron, "How does it work?" Claire asked as she crossed her arms.

"Find the earthy deposits within the metal, and bend those, and by extension: you bend the metal!" Ho Tun explained as he grasped the Iron, crushing it lightly in his hands.

Claire stared in amazement as Ho Tun passed the Iron to her. Claire attempted to replicate Ho Tun's movements, but the Iron wouldn't budge, straining as she tried to bend it to her will.

"Feel for the earth, remember: You're bending the earth within, not the metal itself!" Ho Tun explained as he continued observing.

Claire took a deep breath as she held the Iron in her hand, exhaling as she closed her eyes, searching for the earth in the iron, lightly picking up on it as the Avatar pushed her other hand on to the top of the Iron, flattening it like a pancake.

Ho Tun hopped back as Claire opened one of her eyes: seeing the pancaked Iron, "You did that faster than expected-" Ho Tun said aloud, as his eyes widened.

"Beginner's luck, I guess," Claire jested as she placed the Iron down on the earthen pedestal.

Another year passed by as Claire continued learning Earth-bending and Metal-bending, and with bitter work and determination: Claire became an adept Earth-bender and a novice Metal-bender.


	3. Flowing Gale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire begins her Air-bending training

Upon becoming adept at Earth-bending, Claire began her Air-Bending training, stealthily striding through the building, trying to find Katara's chamber, eventually finding a room with 'Katara' written on it, "Good thing they put their names on the doors," Claire muttered, knocking on the door.

"Come in!" Katara called out.

Claire opened the door, seeing Katara knelt down before a small table, incense peacefully billowing into the air, "Uh, Katara," Claire greeted her as she poked her head around the door.

"What do you need, Claire?" Katara asked, her back still facing the door.

Claire stepped through the doorway, revealing the orange and yellow monk robes which only cover part of her chest, "Are you sure Jinora gave me the right outfit?"

Katara began turning around, "I'm sure she di-" she froze, seeing Claire's partly exposed chest, only being covered by a sleeveless cropped undershirt.

Katara stared blankly at Claire, silence filling the room, "I'm guessing this isn't what I'm supposed to be wearing," Claire uneasily replied.

"You guess correctly," Katara replied, standing up and rummaging through a closet, pulling out her proper air nomad attire.

Claire casually walked in, tucking her arm into the robes and trying to cover herself as best she could, "So, what were you doing?" Claire asked, looking down at the table, seeing a painted Portrait of Katara in her youth, standing beside Aang.

"Just... remembering Aang, today would've been our forty-fourth anniversary," Katara sombrely replied as Claire awkwardly scrunched up.

"Oh... sorry about interrupting," Claire nervously said.

But Katara simply smiled and patted her shoulder, "There's no need to fret, I suppose you arriving when you did is a way of Aang saying he's still with me," Katara explained, a tear streaking out of her eye.

Claire's chest lightly tightened, her throat briefly choking, "I... suppose it could be," Claire replied, sombrely smiling before leaving with the proper attire.

Claire quickly raced over to the Air Temple replica, now adorned with a traditional Air Nomad outfit, an all yellow baggy jumpsuit with a small orange poncho over her shoulders, draping over her chest and upper arms, an orange belt wrapped around her waist and slim orange arm straps around her forearms with Brown boots covering her lower legs.

"Avatar! You're late!" Tenzin greeted her.

"Yeah, sorry, Jinora gave me the wrong attire," Claire replied.

Tenzin turned to Jinora with a sceptically raised eyebrow, "Did you?" Tenzin asked.

Jinora swayed back and forth as she awkwardly looked off into the distance, "... Maybe," she replied.

Tenzin rolled his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose, "Anyway, let's get on with today's lesson," he said, raising his hand towards a platform of spiralling gates, "Air is the element of freedom, to learn Air-bending you must be like this leaf."

Tenzin released a leaf from his hands, letting it flow towards the gates, "Air-bending is all about being able to change direction at a moment's notice. When met with resistance, flow away from the attack rather than towards it."

Claire gave an unsure nod to Tenzin's explanation, the Avatar's Air-bending master turning his attention to Jinora, "Would you mind giving The Avatar a proper demonstration, Jinora?"

Jinora nodded, racing over to the Spiralling Gates. She entered the gates and began weaving through them just like the leaf did, and within seconds, she popped out from the other side and raced back over to Tenzin, "How did I do?!" she Giddily asked.

Tenzin smiled from ear to ear, "Exceptionally, Jinora!"

Claire stretched her muscles, confidence brimming inside her after seeing Jinora do it, "That doesn't seem too difficult."

Claire raced towards the gates, placing herself before them as Jinora did, entering the Spiralling Gates and weaving in between them, staying focused on her goal.

"You're doing well, Claire!" Jinora shouted.

Jinora's compliment briefly distracted Claire as she turned to look at her, "Hey, I am aren't I?"

Unfortunately, Claire's confidence quickly crippled as a Gate struck her right calf, causing her to wince back into the second gate which struck her knee, making her wince forward before a final gate struck her face.

Claire lost her balance and ended up being pinged around like a pinball by the gates, ultimately being spat out of the Spiralling Gates.

Tenzin and Jinora frantically rushed over to Claire, "Are you alright?" Tenzin asked.

Claire lay with her face pressed against the cold metal floor, pain crushing her body, "Peachy..."

Jinora rolled the Avatar onto her back, trying to be careful not to hurt her further, "Sorry about distracting you..." Jinora said with a nervous shrug.

Tenzin knelt beside Claire, helping her up from the floor, "I don't think anyone's ever got through the Spiralling Gates on the first try."

Claire stood back up, rolling her shoulders before letting out a disgruntled sigh.

"Would you like to try again?" Tenzin asked as the Avatar took a deep breath.

"Yeah, I'll give it another round!" Claire replied as she approached the Spiralling Gates once more.

But try as she might, Claire failed another five times, arms, legs, torso and head, all beaten several times, and as she hit the floor: Claire jolted up in a fit of frustration, raising a Tsunami up from the ocean, shocking The other Masters and Katara as they looked out at it.

Tenzin stomped his foot on the steel ground, releasing a gust of wind, "Avatar!" Tenzin shouted as the gust knocked Claire off balance.

The Tsunami dropped back into the Ocean as Claire lost control over it.

The Avatar looked over at the displeased Tenzin and let out a heavy sigh, "Sorry, Sorry..." Claire held her head, the shame of her actions washing over her.

Jinora tugged on Tenzin's robes, causing him to look down to her, "Maybe we should try Meditating, it may help bolster Claire's spirituality," she whispered.

Tenzin stroked his beard, humming for a brief moment, "Good idea, Jinora!" Tenzin whispered back.

The two approached the shamed Avatar, "Avatar-"

Claire raised her hand to him, "Would another sorry help avert the scolding?"

Tenzin chuckled, smiling at her as Claire awaited punishment, "I didn't plan on scolding you," he said.

Claire gradually turned around, a confused look coming over her as she stared at Tenzin, "Really?" Claire asked him.

"Yes, really. I'm not. I was going to tell you, Jinora has recommended we meditate inside the temple," Tenzin told her, gesturing to the temple.

Claire seemed perplexed by the idea, "How would meditation help with Air-bending?" she asked.

Tenzin smiled as he guided her and Jinora to the temple, "Air is also one of the more spiritual elements, and meditation will help with Spiritual enlightenment, and thus help you learn Air-bending," Tenzin explained.

The three reached the inner sanctum of the temple, the fragrance of burning incense dulling the salty stench of the ocean. One mat sat at the end of the room, with two others in front of it. Tenzin sat down on the mat at the end of the room, whilst Jinora and Claire sat down on the other two mats.

The three crossed their legs and put both their fists against one another, each taking a deep breath, before closing their eyes and exhaling, beginning their meditation.

Hours passed by, the three still meditating within the confines of the temple, but as they did a blue transparent figure emerged from Claire, fully forming into a spiritual projection of Claire.

The projection opened its eyes, looking around curiously, "Oh, we're still meditating, I suppose I should sit back down," she told herself as she turned around.

But as she saw her own body still propped up in a meditative position, shock pierced through her.

The Avatar frantically tried to work out what had transpired, but as she looked to her hands, she could see she had become a transparent blue, loudly gasping, "I'M DEAD?!" Claire exclaimed as she placed her hands on the sides of her head, ruffling her spirit hair.

Claire tried desperately to get back into her body, but nothing she did seemed to work, "How did I end up like this?! What happened to me?! What are the others going to think?!"

But as Claire panicked, she noticed another spirit outside the temple, a large fluffy six-legged creature with an enormous head and horns protruding from it, an Air-bending master arrow coursed over the fur on its head, before Claire stood a Sky Bison.

An Air Nomad appeared sat atop the Sky Bison. Air-bending master tattoos adorned his bald head, and a beard which covered the lower sides of his face adorned with yellow and orange monk robes.

The man jumped off of the Sky Bison and stood before Claire, "Aang..." Claire muttered as she walked out to the Sky Bison.

"Hello, Claire. It's nice to meet you," Aang replied.

"It's nice to meet you too," Claire replied, becoming blissfully unaware of her situation.

"Would you like to take a ride on Appa?" Aang asked, inviting her up.

"I wouldn't mind, I could use your help with Air-bending," Claire replied as the two hopped aboard Appa.

Aang looked towards Appa's head, "Appa, Yip-Yip!" he told the Sky Bison, causing him to ascend into the sky.

Aang then turned his attention to Claire, "What is it you're struggling with when it comes to Air-bending?" he asked.

The befuddled Avatar let out a long sigh at his question, "At the moment: Spiralling Gates. But overall... the whole thing," She replied.

The Air Nomad half-smiled at her statement, "Air-bending is about being flexible and following the path of least resistance. Air-bending is almost solely used for defence in battle. An Air-bender needs to adapt to the situation before them, and utilise negative jing, using evasive instincts rather than going for upfront confrontation," Aang explained.

Claire nodded her head, "I think I understand it a bit better now."

Aang smiled once again as the two descended back to the White Lotus Compound.

Claire hopped off but Aang quickly halted her, to which Claire looked back in surprise, "Before you go, I want to show you a trick I made," Aang said as Claire sat back down and waited for Aang to show the trick.

Aang swirled his hands over his head forming a spiritual sphere, bringing it beneath him before hopping on top of it, "This is the Air-scooter. Show it to my son Tenzin once you get a hang on Air-bending."

Claire softly laughed with him, "I will!"

Claire hopped off of Appa, walking back towards her body, realising she still didn't know how to get back in, turning back around to Aang, "How do I get back into my body?" She asked.

The Air nomad looked back, slightly perplexed, "Just pop back in!" Aang replied with a cheeky grin.

Claire shrugged, turning to face her body, but a thought came to her mind, "Hey, Aang," Claire sombrely spoke.

Claire's sudden change in demeanour caught the previous Avatar's attention, "Is something wrong?" he asked as he hopped off Appa.

"Do you... want me to pass a message onto Katara at all?" Claire asked.

Aang's eyes widened as he slowly nodded, "Tell her, she's still my forever girl," he replied with a cheerful grin.

Claire chuckled at his comment, as Aang made way back to Appa, "Oh, and also tell her I'd still rather kiss than be dead."

"Are you sure about that last part?" Claire asked as she crossed her arms.

"Of course! And I'll know if you don't tell her!" Aang replied, ascending up on Appa whilst Claire shrugged once more, sprinting towards her body then jumping back inside of it.

The sudden return to her body caused her to jolt backwards, Tenzin and Jinora breaking their meditation from surprise, both looking at Claire, "What are you doing?!" The shocked Tenzin asked.

Claire looked around and at herself, then back to Tenzin, "I think I'm ready to try those Spiralling Gates again."

Both Tenzin and Jinora looked at one another and shrugged, "Sure, why not," Jinora replied.

The three stood before the Spiralling Gates once more, Claire took a slow deep breath, "Evasive Instincts don't fail me now!"

Claire began weaving through the gates whilst the two watched her, "Three silver pieces say she gets pinged out again," Jinora whispered.

Tenzin briefly mulled the offer over, "... Deal!" he whispered back.

Claire Allowed her evasive instincts to take over, avoiding the merciless spiral of the Gates, and in time she came out of the other side unscathed.

Upon seeing that she did it, Claire Overflowed with excitement, "I DID IT!"

Claire danced around for a moment before trying to form an Air-scooter, miraculously forming one then riding around the Compound atop it.

Both Tenzin and Jinora stood flabbergasted by Claire's sudden use of Air-bending, hearing Claire cheer in the distance, "Hey, how do I stop this thing?" Claire loudly asked.

The Avatar continued zooming around the compound, racing passed Katara's room, "Hi, Katara!"

Claire whizzed off as a bewildered Katara looked out of the window, "I thought I just heard, Claire?" she said to herself before shrugging and returning to a Pai Sho game with Kya.

Claire zoomed back around to the Spiralling gates where Tenzin halted her with a strong gale, causing the Avatar to fall over from exhaustion, "That was fun!" Claire said gleefully.

Tenzin smiled at her before turning his attention to Jinora, raising his hand with his palm facing upwards, Jinora reluctantly handed over the three silver pieces before Tenzin carried Claire back to her quarters, laying her on her bed to rest.

Claire lay atop her bed for a moment until her eyes fluttered open. The Avatar quietly swung herself out of bed, stealthily strutting over to Katara's room and knocking on the door.

"Come in!" Katara called.

"Wow, she's still awake," Claire muttered as she opened the door.

Katara heard her come in, turning to Claire as she entered, "Did Jinora do something again?"

"No... I have a message for you, from Aang," Claire told her.

Katara's eyes widened as she stood up, "What? How did you contact him?" Katara asked.

Claire took a deep breath, looking into Katara's hopeful eyes, "During my meditation with Tenzin, I... somehow exited my body, then Aang appeared, gave me some Air-bending pointers and I asked if he wanted me to tell you anything," Claire explained.

Katara slowly nodded, taking in Claire's explanation, "Well... I'm all ears,"

"He told me to tell you, that you're still his forever girl..." Claire confidently told her, "and that he'd rather kiss you than be dead."

Katara smiled, chuckling at the latter part of Aang's message, "It's good to know he still remembers our time together," Katara replied, smiling at Claire as she smiled back, "Thank you, Avatar."

Claire took a brief bow, "Anytime, Katara," Claire replied, leaving Katara in peace as she knelt back down to the portrait, lightly caressing the frame, and sombrely smiling at the painting.

Claire would train alongside Jinora almost daily for the next two years, evading boulders and other attacks, her agility increasing over time, as well as her balance, improving significantly whilst she hopped along the tops of poles, much to Tenzin's delight. Claire slowly became an adept user of Air-bending. Satisfied with Claire's progress, Tenzin instructed her to move on to the next Element: Fire.


	4. Way of the Sword

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire struggles with her Fire-bending training, and the Southern Chief arrives at the Compound

Upon becoming adept at Air-bending, Claire began her Fire-bending training with her Master, Shu, learning the basics before moving onto generating fire. The two stood within the confines of the Agni Kai arena, the smell of fire filling the air as they stood on the gravelly surface. Claire adorned herself with a Fire Nation outfit, red and gold robes which draped to just above her knees, a black undershirt covered her upper body whilst black pants and pointy maroon boots covered her lower body.

Shu turned his attention to Claire, stroking his beard as he quizzically looked her up and down, "Tell me what you know of fire-bending, Avatar?"

Claire not expecting the question: her head emptied, "It... involves fire!"

Shu groaned, holding his hand to his head before lowering it back to his side, "Fire-bending is the element of power. And unlike the other elements, you need a drive, an 'inner flame' to fuel it."

Shu conjured a flame in the palm of his hand, "Fire, like you and me. Is alive, if left unchecked it can spread and destroy all it touches."

Shu rolled the fire around his hands and up to his arms, the amazed Avatar staring in awe as he did it, "Self-Control is the key to Fire-Bending. A lack of control will cause the fires you produce to go wild. Remember, you control the Fire, not the other way around."

Shu extinguishing the flame in his hand as he finished his explanation.

"Talk about a quick education," Claire replied.

"Correct. Now repeat after me," Shu told her as he began performing a Fire-bending demonstration.

Claire's Fire-bending master struck out his fist, producing an elegant flame, followed up with several fast jabs of fire, finishing with a leaping kick of fire.

Shu landed, standing up straight and brushed himself down, "Would you like me to repeat?" he asked.

Claire stood in awe at his performance, "I think I can do it," she replied confidently.

Shu outstretched out his arm, welcoming Claire to repeat his performance. The Avatar breathed in deeply, setting a drive in mind to perform the act properly. Claire struck out her right fist, but she produced no fire, drawing back her hand as her befuddled stare gazed upon it.

"Is something wrong?" Shu curiously asked.

"Well... aside from the lack of fire, no," Claire replied.

Shu stroked his beard as he thought to himself, "Try again."

Claire nodded and struck out her fist once more, but as before no Fire came out. Out of frustration, The Avatar began punching her fists out frantically, as her master looked at her in confused wonder, until on the thirteenth attempt a tiny spark of fire ejected from Claire's fist, letting out a disgruntled sigh at herself.

Shu observed her struggle, as he approached the disheartened Avatar, "I believe you're struggling because of your natural element being Water: You are used to the slow elegant movements of a Water-Bender, rather than the fast and aggressive movements of a Fire-Bender. I believe this is causing your body to reject Fire-bending, as it is your opposite," Shu explained.

Claire sat down on the ground, letting out a heavy sigh as her buttocks smacked the gravelly surface, "That makes sense..."

A moment of silence loomed over the two as an idea popped into the Avatar's mind, "Could I perhaps... take a break to explore outside the compound?"

Shu thought about her request, humming to himself before looking down to her, "I shall take your request to the other masters in the evening."

Claire stood back up, swinging her arms at her side.

"For now, I suggest you practice your Water-Bending, I haven't seen you performing any recently," Shu added as he gestured towards the Icy terrain.

"I think my water-bending's just fine," Claire argued with crossed arms.

"I won't repeat myself, Avatar!" Shu firmly replied.

Claire, understanding not to argue, went on her way to the large building, changing into her Water Tribe clothes, adorning herself with her blue sleeveless shirt with a sky blue material around the collar, black baggy pants covered her legs and brown boots with a fluffy lining covered her lower calf and feet. After quickly changing, Claire made her way to the Icy terrain.

Claire stood on the ice fields, reminding her of home as she took a deep breath, bending the ice beneath her into rows of training dummies, pulling the water beside her onto her arms, Claire leapt in at the training dummies, slashing through them with the water and blasting away others with torrents of water, attempting to replicate the fast and aggressive nature of fire with her Water-Bending.

Kya and Katara noticed Claire training, deciding to join her, "Avatar, how about a round of sparring?" Kya asked her.

Claire paused for a moment as she loomed over an ice dummy, turning around to see the two Water-Bending masters, "Oh, sure. Beats using immobile targets."

Before The Avatar could prepare, Kya pulled the water into a whip, striking Claire without hesitation, however, she leapt back, pulling out an ice dummy and launching it towards Kya, but the water-bending master used the ice beneath her to slide to the side, dodging the ice dummy.

Claire formed watery tendrils on to her hands, whipping at Kya as she countered with her own whippings, throwing Claire off her guard as the master bent a ring of water around the two of them, pulling each other in closer and with Claire distracted by the ring, Kya tried freezing The Avatar's feet to the ice, however, Claire stomped her left foot on the ice, propelling herself along with a block of Ice into the air, deftly twisting around in the air, and launching the Ice towards her master.

Kya avoided the attack, but shards of ice still glanced her and as Claire descended, Kya quickly cleared her vision, wrapping a water tendril around Claire's leg, pulling and slamming the Avatar onto her backside.

Claire groaned in pain as she sat up whilst Kya dusted herself down, "You are certainly an expert, Avatar. You were even giving me a run for my money."

Claire hobbled forward as the pain of being slammed down surged over her, "Was slamming me down necessary?"

"Maybe..." Kya replied with a smile.

Katara observed their whole sparring match before walking towards the two of them, "Masterfully done as always, Kya," Katara complimented her.

Kya bowed to her with a proud smile, "Thank you, mother!"

Katara nodded before turning her attention to Claire, "You did well utilising the elements you've learnt, Avatar. But you rely too much on keeping water fluid, leading to your fighting style becoming predictable. Don't be afraid to change your strategy, Water is a lot more versatile than you may think."

The unsure Avatar nodded, half-smiling as she did, "Thank you, Katara."

As Claire turned to the horizon, the sight of steam billowing in the distance, with an approaching steel fortress of a ship filled her vision.

"Uh... do either of you know what that is?" Claire asked, pointing to the approaching Ship.

The two Water-bender's worryingly looked to it, Kya pulled out a telescope she had handy, extending it outwards, staring through the lens to see a Southern Water Tribe flag planted atop the bow of the ship, "No need to worry... I think it's Uncle Sokka making a grand entrance," she reassured them as she pulled her telescope back in.

"Sokka... The Southern Chief?" Claire asked.

Katara briefly nodded, "The one and only."

The ladies made their way to the docks of the Compound, seeing the Giant ship dock in front of them, only for Sokka, still keeping his wolf's tail styled hair, which had grown grey in the years, and a beard similar to that of his father's whilst Southern Water Tribe armour adorned his body. And Bumi a scruffy-looking man in a red jacket and white pants lugging a large chest behind him.

"Sokka... was it necessary to come here in the way you did?" Katara asked.

"What and ruin my grand entrance? Please!" Sokka sarcastically replied as he strolled up to the three ladies, "Now, where's the Avatar!?" he gleefully asked, rubbing his hands together out of enthusiasm.

Kya and Katara both looked to Claire, pointing to her whilst she waved, "That's me!" Claire replied, briefly bowing to the Southern Chief, "It's an honour to meet you, Chief Sokka."

The perplexed Chief looked down to her, "Did uh... the Water Tribe Avatar die early or?" Sokka asked. Claire stood back up, raising a bemused eyebrow to the Chief whilst Bumi observed her.

"Her appearance does seem all over the place..." Bumi muttered before looking to his sister Kya, "Hi, Kya!" Bumi greeted her, waving his hand to her whilst Kya silently wiggled her fingers at him.

"Well, um... no, I'm from the Northern Water Tribe," Claire sheepishly replied.

"I would've said Foggy Swamp... but you don't sound like them," Sokka said, the lot of them standing in awkward silence, "What's your name?"

Claire lightly blushed, "... Claire," She squeamishly replied.

Both Sokka and Bumi looked to each other with utter befuddlement, "You're one unique Avatar, but, hey! We won't judge!" Sokka reassured her whilst throwing his hands in the air.

"Seemed like you were judging quite a bit," Claire muttered with her arms crossed.

"Enough of the judging... why did you come here, Sokka?" Katara interjected.

Bumi pulled the chest to the forefront, opening it up to reveal enough swords to fill an armoury.

"Sword training!" Sokka proudly proclaimed.

Katara and Kya stared at the blades and each other with mild bewilderment whilst Claire's eyes sparkled with joy, her fists pumped up to the side of her chest, "The Avatar is supposed to learn all four elements... what good will a sword do?" Kya asked.

Sokka lightly tutted his niece whilst wagging his finger, "Tons of Avatars have used weaponry in the past! Aang's Glider, Kyoshi's Fans, Kuruks Whale-tooth spear, you get the point."

"Aang's Glider wasn't a weapon per se, Sokka," Katara unamusingly replied.

"But he could use it like one!" Sokka replied before looking to Bumi, "Come Bumi! Let's get ready for training!"

Bumi gave a military salute to his uncle before closing the chest, pulling it behind him whilst Claire and Sokka walked together.

Sokka, Bumi and Claire stood atop the metal platform of the Compound, the salty stench of the ocean filling the air, "Tell me, what do you know of swords?" Sokka asked, raising an index finger to Claire.

"From what my Father's told me, Swords are used as an extension of your own body, kinda like a sharp arm," Claire explained.

"Good, good, I learnt from Master Piando during my time in the hundred-year war, and he used a similar analogy," Sokka replied as he withdrew a steel Jian sword from its sheath.

Sokka swished his sword around his form, much to the adoration of Claire and Bumi, "And as he said, the sword is a simple tool, but is the most versatile weapon you may ever wield."

"So what am I gonna learn first? Slashing? Thrusting?" Claire enthusiastically asked as she swished her arms around in a thrusting and slashing motion.

"Well, I want to see what you're capable of first so," Sokka replied, pulling out two bamboo training swords, "You're gonna spar. Against Bumi!"

Claire and Bumi stood opposite each other with their bamboo swords at the ready, Claire with hers poised to the side as if holding it in a sheath, whilst Bumi held his more akin to a rapier.

"Claire... why are you holding it like that?" Sokka asked, pointing to Claire's hand being where the blade would be.

"I... don't know, I just naturally got in this stance," Claire replied, unsure of herself as she looked at her stance.

Claire shook her head, grasping the handle and holding it to Bumi in both hands.

"Alright... begin!" Sokka commanded them.

Claire and Bumi circled around, sizing one another up, but before Claire could react, Bumi lunged in, swiftly jabbing Claire's chest and knocking her down. The Avatar clutched her sternum whilst Bumi pulled the bamboo sword back.

"One point to Bumi!" Sokka announced.

"There are points?" Bumi and Claire asked in unison as they looked to Sokka.

"Well, can't dictate her abilities off one round, can I?" Sokka rhetorically asked.

Both Claire and Bumi shrugged, returning to their sparring duel.

Claire and Bumi retook their positions, Claire hummed to herself, retaking the stance she originally had, grasping the bamboo sword just above the guard, poising the blade behind her.

"Round two! Begin!" Sokka announced.

Claire confidently walked around, waiting for Bumi to attack, and as he lunged forward, Claire dashed to the side a brief gale swooping in her wake before she smacked the bamboo sword across Bumi's stomach, swiftly bringing it back, striking him again before grasping the bamboo sword by its handle, slashing up and down in quick succession, each strike smacking against Bumi and his sword as he tried to block her attack, but Claire gracefully pirouetted towards Bumi, cleaving her bamboo sword through his own, breaking it in two.

"One Point to, uh... Claire... did we bring any more training swords?" Sokka nervously announced as Bumi shrugged, "Well... let's move on then."

Claire curiously looked to her training sword, her hairs standing on end as a mysterious knowledge filled her mind.

Sokka and Claire sat in the centre of the metal platform, a red blindfold concealing Claire's vision. A small desk, jars of paint, and a blank sheet of paper sat before her.

"When it comes to fighting, you've got mere seconds to take in the landscape, and if you don't know the lay of the land, you're just setting yourself up for failure," Sokka explained before removing Claire's Blindfold, revealing the Mountainous terrain and Icy terrain to her, the Avatar looked around rather bewildered before Bumi dashed in front of her, holding up a sheet on a wooden pole in front of her.

"Now you paint what you saw," Sokka told her as he gestured to the paper.

Claire shrugged and grasped the paintbrush, lightly dabbing it in the paints, "I'll tell you now, I'm not much of an artist."

Bumi chuckled at her comment as he crossed his arms, "Neither's Uncle Sokka."

"Hey!" Sokka exclaimed, Claire and Bumi chuckling before she returned to her painting.

Minutes passed by whilst Claire painted. Sweat dripped onto the page whilst she concentrated, trying to get the details as perfect as she could.

"Done!" Claire announced, showing her painting to Sokka, a crude replication of the scenery she saw.

"No rainbow?" Sokka asked.

"Should I have painted a rainbow?" Claire nervously asked.

"He's just messing with you," Bumi reassured her, the Avatar breathing a sigh of relief at the sound of his words.

The Three moved onto what would be Claire's final training regimen, standing within the mountainous terrain, boulders and scrap metal scattered along the land.

"The last thing I'll teach you for today is how to use the environment to your advantage," Sokka told her, the Avatar nodding her head, "And as you're the Avatar, well, you're probably already a natural at that."

Sokka closed his eyes and smirked at himself, but as he did, the earth rumbled beneath him, the Chief's eyes jerking open to see Claire had bent a chunk of earth up into a bed, whilst bending a sheet of scrap metal over her like a shelter.

Claire lowly hummed to herself before snapping her fingers, striking her hand out towards the Icy terrain, pulling a chunk off and forming it into icy cold water.

"I, uh... wouldn't drink that if I were you," Sokka told her as Claire looked to the water and Sokka.

"Why?" Claire asked.

Bumi lightly scoffed at her before pointing to the ocean, "Ocean water isn't exactly the healthiest thing to drink," Bumi said before nudging Sokka, "kinda like Unfiltered Cactus Juice."

"That was one time!" Sokka exclaimed as Claire flicked the water away.

The three stood back on the metal platform, an array of weapons stood behind Sokka as he eagerly looked to Claire, "Now, when I did my sword training, I forged my own blade," Sokka explained as he paced back and forth before the weaponry, "But I don't have a portable forge, so I've brought an array of swords for you to choose from!"

Sokka presented the swords in a bodacious fashion, "We've got Jian Swords, which was my first," Sokka explained as he presented a long slender sword with a small guard.

"The Zhanmadao, which might be a bit big." He said as he showed a long Katana like blade on a large handle.

"The Dao Sword, pretty standard really," Sokka said as he presented the broad sword to her.

The Avatar's eyes perked open as she saw it, her body tingling all over, "I'll take the Dao sword!" Claire snapped.

Sokka and Bumi both quizzically looked to her, "We haven't even gone through half the available swords," Sokka argued.

"I know, it's just... there's something that's oddly familiar about it," Claire replied, approaching the Dao sword and curiously grasping the velvet handle, her hairs stood on end as she picked it up, slowly gasping as she looked into her reflection.

"Alright... Dao sword it is," Sokka replied, handing Claire the sheath.

Sokka and Claire stood across from each other, Claire with her Dao Sword clutched in its sheath whilst Sokka stood with a Jian sword unsheathed and ready to battle.

"I would've fought you with my Space Sword, but at the moment, my Son Jing's got it," Sokka explained as Claire smirked.

"Eh, good thing you aren't using it, that sucker could cleave a man in two," Bumi commented as he watched the two prepare for their duel.

"Alright, no holding back! Let's fight!" Sokka proclaimed as Claire walked to her side, focusing on Sokka whilst the Chief poised his sword ready to strike.

Sokka dashed in, thrusting passed Claire and just barely grazing her hair, her expression turning from one of focus to one of dread, losing all concentration, whilst Sokka smirked at her.

Claire recklessly withdrew her sword, clashing metal with Sokka, the one-sided duel raging on whilst the Elemental Masters watched from the balcony of the gigantic building.

"Are you sure Uncle Sokka's not pushing her training a bit too quickly?" Kya asked, looking to her mother.

"This is Sokka... he pushes everything quickly," Katara replied whilst everyone else watched.

Sokka lunged in once more, but Claire dragged a piece of metal up from the platform, colliding with Sokka's blade as it pierced through, just barely touching Claire's nose. The Avatar winced back as she stared at the point.

"Using your bending against a non-bender, smart!" Sokka complimented her.

Claire regained what composure she had, leaping around the metal sheet, intending to take down Sokka, but he parried her attack with his sheath, "Should've gone left," Sokka smugly told her, pulling his sword free and clashing blades once more.

The blades clashed and metal rang against one another, Sokka's attacks mercilessly forcing the avatar back until she had reached the edge of the platform, almost falling into the raging waves below.

"Mother! Can't you stop him!?" Tenzin exclaimed as they saw Claire teeter on the edge.

"I'm sure Claire will be fine... Sokka won't let her fall in the ocean," Katara replied, suddenly becoming unsure of herself.

Sokka swung out once more, Claire dodging back an inch too far, stumbling and falling towards the ocean, "Oh man, I overdid it," Sokka muttered.

Claire looked to Sokka as she fell, her eyes sparkling with a radiant light, Sokka's heart skipping a beat whilst a power surged over Claire.

She struck her palm down to the ocean below, pulling up a sleek ice pole and flipping around with a gust of wind, landing feet first on the pillar. Claire pushed off the ice pole and clashed swords with Sokka once more, pushing him back and away from the edge.

"I wasn't the only one who saw that, right?" Ho tun nervously asked.

"That brief flash of light?" Shu curiously asked.

"Yeah, that," Ho Tun replied as the Elemental Masters eagerly watched.

Claire dashed in with her Dao Sword unsheathed, slashing upwards with a mighty ferocity, metal clashing as she launched herself and Sokka into the air, Claire swung her blade up and down as Sokka tried to block in the air, but as he did Claire pirouetted, slashing with her blade and smacking with her scabbard until slamming her sword onto Sokka's knocking him down to the ground.

"Are you okay, Uncle?" Bumi asked, ready to run in and help.

"I'm good!" Sokka proclaimed as he stood back up.

Claire floated in the air, slowly descending as she sheathed her sword, "It's gettin' breezy!" Claire proclaimed, seemingly unsheathing and re-sheathing her Dao Sword.

The Air slashed around Sokka, spooking the chief as he swung his sword around, the air grazing his skin, "What was that!?" Sokka exclaimed whilst the elemental masters looked on in shock.

"That's not an Air-bending technique I've ever seen..." Tenzin muttered.

"Any idea where she picked that up from?" Kya asked as Tenzin shook his head.

Claire poised the sheathed sword to the sky, grasping the handle and scabbard, slowly unsheathing it before beginning her descent.

"Uncle! Look out!" Bumi shouted.

"Now what!?" Sokka exclaimed, seeing Claire rapidly descend towards him.

Claire's Dao Sword cleaved through the Jian sword, the blade splitting in two as Claire landed, bending her knees and cleanly slashing through the metal platform.

The Avatar slowly rose to her feet, re-sheathing her sword, slowly exhaling, and as she did, she snapped back to reality, looking to the broken sword and herself.

"Well! You broke one of my swords," Sokka enthusiastically exclaimed as Claire lightly shuddered.

"You alright there, Avatar?" Bumi asked, slowly approaching Claire whilst she gazed at the sheathed Dao Sword.

"That... I've never experienced anything like that before," Claire muttered.

Sokka raised an eyebrow to her as he marched to her, "Well... when you fell, I think you might've entered the Avatar State," Sokka explained.

Claire quizzically looked to the chief, unsure as to what he meant, "The Avatar State..."

"Yeah, it comes out when you're distressed and well... I might've gone a little too hard on you and accidentally brought it out," Sokka explained.

Claire slowly nodded, mulling over the fight, her hairs standing on end, "Is it supposed to feel so... ancient?" Claire asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sokka hummed to himself with his hand under his chin, "Well, from what Aang told me, the Avatar Cycle is well over ten thousand years old, so it's not surprising," Sokka explained.

Claire unsurely nodded, "Right..," she replied, handing the Dao sword back to Sokka, "Thank you for the sword training, Chief," Claire formally told him as he took the sword off her hands.

"It's been a pleasure," Sokka replied with a bowed head, "And let me know if you find a way to contact whichever Avatar you connected with during that fight, because that was something else."

Claire hesitantly chuckled at his request, "I'll be sure to do that." she replied as the three marched over to the Enormous building, hungry for an evening meal.


	5. Enter the Republic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire finally departs from the Compound, going out to explore the world

The Night had fallen on the White Lotus Compound, Sokka rested in his quarters whilst Claire sat atop the roof of the gigantic building, gazing up to the moon.

"Avatar!" A voice called out, catching Claire's attention as she saw Bumi waltzing over to her.

"How... did you get up here?" Claire asked as he sat next to her.

"There's a ladder... why, how did you get up?" Bumi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"... Air-bending," Claire sheepishly replied.

"Ah, Air-bending," Bumi replied, nodding his head before letting out a melancholy sigh.

"Is something wrong?" Claire asked as she remained sat with her arms wrapped around her knees.

"It's just... my dad, he wanted all his kids to be Air-benders, to keep the Air-bender lineage going," Bumi explained as Claire nodded, "And I can only imagine the disappointment he felt when his first kid comes out as a non-bender."

Bumi gazed to the moon with a heavy heart as Claire looked with him, "Hey, he might've been upset, but I'm sure he still loved you all the same," Claire reassured him.

But Bumi simply scoffed, "Yeah... I suppose he did." he replied.

Claire smiled at him, lightly swaying side to side, "And besides, I'm sure you've made him proud in other ways." she said, with a slight nudge of his arm.

"Do you really think he'd be proud of me being a military General for the Southern Water Tribe?" Bumi asked as he weaved his fingers together and placed them under his chin.

"As long as you've maintained peace, I'm sure he's as proud as can be," Claire replied, looking to the sky with a glimmer of pride in her eye.

Bumi lightly chuckled, "Thanks, Avatar," he replied with a wry smile as silence dawned on the two.

"So what's it like? Being an Air-bender? Or just being an Avatar in general?" Bumi asked, looking at Claire.

"Well, I've lived sixteen years of my life thinking I was just a water-bender," Claire replied as she looked to her palms, "but knowing that I know I'm the Avatar, I feel like I'm on top of the world!"

"Don't go getting too egotistical," Bumi replied as Claire stood up, turning to face the General.

"It's hard not to be, knowing I'm the most powerful person in the world," Claire proudly replied.

"Well, just keep in mind, there'll always be someone out there to one-up you," Bumi told her as he stood up.

"We'll see," Claire smugly replied, "Either way, we best rest for tomorrow, who knows what the masters will throw at me."

Bumi smiled and nodded, "Well, at least you've got some sense amongst all that ego," he replied as Claire laughed.

"See you later, Bumi," Claire bid him farewell as she leapt from the building, swirling an air current around herself and flying into her quarters, all the while Bumi took the ladder down.

The masters sat around a large wooden table to discuss Claire's request. Tenzin sat with his fingers woven under his chin, Kya sat cross-armed, Shu sat with his hands on his lap, Ho Tun sat with his arms laid along the table, and Katara sat with her hands cupped together near her abdomen, deafening silence and the smell of lavender filling the atmosphere.

"The Avatar has requested to leave the Compound, I am here to receive your approval or disapproval of her request," Shu told the masters as he looked to them with a serious stare.

"Leaving the compound now could be dangerous," Kya replied, slumping back in her posture, her voice riddled with worry.

"I say let her, she's spent four years cooped up here," Ho Tun replied, unconcerned about safety.

"Remember what Aang said before he passed," Katara told them as she raised her right hand to them.

"'The shadows are stirring... and a strange wind is blowing...' father wasn't a fortune teller... but I believe he was trying to warn of a new threat," Tenzin responded.

"Do you think he meant The Red Lotus?" Shu asked, raising a curious eyebrow.

But Tenzin slowly shook his head, "No, The Red Lotus - although a concern - don't warrant such a... daunting message," Tenzin replied, his voice oozing with uncertainty.

"But what if Claire encounters them?" Katara asked, catching the attention of the masters.

"The Red Lotus doesn't know who the Avatar is, all they know is that she is of the Water Tribe," Shu told her.

"I say we put it to a vote, whoever thinks the Avatar should leave the compound and explore the world, raise your hand!" Shu told the masters and Katara.

Ho Tun raised his hand, as did Tenzin, albeit begrudgingly.

Kya thought to herself before slowly releasing her crossed arms, "As long as she keeps her identity as Avatar hidden, she should be fine," she said as she raised her hand.

Katara and Shu kept their hands down as they looked towards each other, "Three against two. So it's decided the Avatar will leave the compound," Shu replied.

"I'll go inform her," Katara replied as she stood up and ventured to Claire's quarters, marching down a dimly lit corridor before arriving at the door, knocking three times.

Claire opened the door, having only just tried sleeping her eyelids sagged and her hair looked akin to a snow-covered bush as she let out a yawn, covering her mouth before speaking, "Hi, Katara. What is it?" She asked through the yawn.

"The Masters and I have decided on your request. They have allowed you to leave the compound in the morning," Katara told her in a sombre tone.

Claire's eyes pinged open as a wide smile came across her face, "FINALLY, I GET TO GO SOMEWHERE!" Claire cheered at the top of her lungs.

The Masters heard her cheering from down the corridor, "Well, she sounds happy!" Ho Tun told them with a grin on his face whilst Shu let out a disgruntled sigh.

Claire finished her celebrations and flipped back into bed, "Thanks, Katara, and let the masters know I said thanks too!" she gleefully said.

Katara nodded as she grasped the door, "Goodnight, Avatar," she bid her farewell, shutting the door and returning to the masters.

The next morning, Tenzin, Sokka, Bumi and Ho Tun prepared a small boat for Claire to set sail into the world.

Claire showed up at the boat, carrying a small sack of food and clothing over her shoulder, but upon seeing the boat she gave it a look of minor dismay, "I'm going to be sailing in this?" she asked as she looked at the small sailboat.

Tenzin and Ho Tun stared at one another, then to her, "Well, it's not like we have a Sky Bison to offer you," Tenzin jokingly replied.

"Or a Polar Bear Dog," Ho Tun said.

"Talos had a Polar Bear Dog. I miss that Polar Bear Dog," Claire spoke aloud out of Nostalgia.

But her sudden nostalgia brought a realisation upon both Tenzin and Ho Tun, "It's just occurred to me: you don't have an animal guide, do you?" Tenzin asked her.

Claire looked back at them, slightly confused, "Am I supposed to?" she asked, nervously looking at the two of them.

"An Avatar normally has an animal guide, My father had Appa, Roku had his Dragon, and If I remember correctly, Kyoshi had a fox," Tenzin explained to Claire, quizzically holding his chin at the thought of Kyoshi.

"I might not have an animal guide because of everyone thinking Talos was the Avatar," Claire theorised.

"How did they determine that anyway?" Tenzin asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"They did it the Traditional way: Unalaq made the Sages of the tribe give Talos a glowing rock, and when it started floating and shining in his hand, they determined he was the Avatar," Claire explained.

The two masters looked to each other with wonder before looking back to Claire, "Were you there at the time?" Ho Tun asked, thinking of a theory in his head.

"I was," Claire replied as she caught wind of her master's theory, "Do you think it only started floating because I was there?"

"It's possible... anyhow. Until you find a better mode of transportation, this sailboat will have to do," Tenzin told her, the Avatar shrugging before jumping aboard the sailboat.

"You know, we could always just take her on our ship," Bumi suggested as Tenzin raised his eyebrows in an unimpressed manner.

"I don't think anywhere's going to take kindly to Warship showing up in their waters," Tenzin replied as Bumi rolled his eyes.

"No, Tenzin's right, going in a little sailboat like this is a bit more incognito," Sokka said as he patted the boat.

"When do you want me to come back?" Claire asked.

Ho Tun and Tenzin looked at each other, nonchalantly shrugging, "Whenever you want," The two of them replied.

As the five conversed, Claire's other masters arrived to see her off.

"Good luck out there, Avatar!" Katara bid her farewell, "And remember to keep your identity as Avatar secret!"

Claire perplexingly looked back at her, "Why?" The confused Avatar asked as Shu approached the boat.

"There is a group known as The Red Lotus. We are unsure of their current location, but we know they seek to slay the Avatar," Shu informed her.

Chills shot down Claire's spine at the sound of Shu's warning, "Right, well, I'll be keeping those secret!"

The Sailboat took off as Claire waved goodbye to her masters, Sokka, Bumi and Katara.

Claire pulled out a map of the current world, curiously looking to it, "Earth Kingdom... too big. Fire Nation? Maybe," Claire spoke to herself as she inspected the map further, "Ooh, Republic city, I remember Toph mentioning that," she said aloud, setting a course for Republic City.

Claire sailed all day to make it to Republic City until she could see it on the Horizon. The city looked like a giant beacon of light illuminating the darkness of the night.

"That definitely looks like a city," Claire told herself as she began sailing further towards it, eventually docking in the harbour and gazing at the city from the boat.

The three remaining bending practices powered the city, earth-benders kept the cargo systems moving, with a system inspired by Omashu's cargo system albeit kept near to ground level after Aang and Bumi's antics aboard Omashu's Cargo system.

Fire-benders keep torches lit during the night, allowing residents to feel safer and extinguish them during the day, as well as being chefs and keeping houses warm.

Water-benders worked as fish catchers, baiting in hoards of them and lifting them up from the water, as well as working as doctors and nurses, a profession set up by Katara during her time in the city.

Metal-benders made up the entire Police Force, originally educated in the art by Toph and now by the commander of Zaofu, a metal city in the Southern area of the Earth Kingdom.

The city appeared more technologically advanced than places like the North Pole, but still kept the aesthetic of other major cities within the Four Nations.

"It feels like I just jumped several years into the Future..." Claire told herself as she marvelled at the city, a brief silence coming over her, "Although I suppose I kinda have. Being cooped up on that compound for four years."

Claire chuckled to herself, falling asleep on the boat as it slowly rocked.

The Sun ascended over the horizon, awakening Claire as it hit her eyes, stretching out her arms whilst letting out a loud yawn before leaping up onto her feet.

"Well, Republic City. Here comes the Ava- Claire... here comes the Claire!" She told the city.

Claire leapt out of the boat, beginning her journey into the City. As she made her way through the metropolis, unfamiliar scents wafted through the air, food Claire had never seen or tasted before, flowers she'd never held in her hands. The entire city gave off the presence of a completely unknown world.

Claire passed by several stalls selling various merchandise and street performers putting shows on for locals, but as she strode through the city, the faint wailing of a woman crept into her ears, catching the Avatar's attention as she deftly travelled through a dark back alley towards its source.

Claire found herself deep in the Dark alley, the sound of the postal carts rushing overhead. She hid behind a large crate, observing two sleazy benders, one twirling fire in his hand whilst another tossed a rock between his palms as they loomed over a scruffy-looking woman, passively raising her hands to them.

"Please! Just take the gold and go!" The woman pleaded as the Sleazy Fire-bender's black veined Eyes pierced through her.

"Oh, Nah, Nah, Nah, you whelps need to learn your place in this city!" The sleazy Fire-bender proclaimed as the swirling fire roared in his hands.

Claire took a deep breath, throwing herself out from behind the crate, "Hey, ashmaker!" she shouted, catching the anger attention of the sleazy Fire-bender.

"What did you just call me? You Mish-mashed freak!" The sleazy bender snapped back.

But Claire scoffed, "I called you an Ashmaker, or is that term outdated?" she replied, cracking her knuckles.

"You've got some nerve trotting down here thinking you can stand up to us!" The sleazy bender snarled, his eyes ragefully widening as Claire observed the slim black streaks on his eyeballs.

"That's... weird," Claire whispered to herself, standing tall against the sleazy benders.

"You're about to learn that power rules this city! And we benders are on the top!" The sleazy bender proclaimed as he launched a fireball at Claire.

But she quickly took a firm stance, striking her fist high whilst keeping her other arm to her side, erecting a mighty obelisk before the fireball and snuffing it out, "If power rules, good to know _I'm_ the one on top!" Claire proudly proclaimed.

The Avatar stomped her foot, levitating the obelisk and launching it at the sleazy benders, but they both evaded, however, before they could counterattack. Claire, pulled the obelisk back, striking both sleazy benders on their backs.

The two sleazes fell as the obelisk crumbled around them, knocking them both into unconsciousness. Claire confidently approached as the scruffy-looking woman slowly backed away.

Claire picked up a hefty sack of gold from the sleazy Fire-bender, jingling the contents before looking to the woman, "I believe this belongs to you," Claire said as she tossed the money sack to her.

The scruffy woman winced away and closed her eyes as it landed in her lap. The scruffy woman opened an eye seeing the sack in her lap and a perplexed Claire stood before her, "You're... not attacking me?" she asked.

Claire shook her head, "I thought beating these two would make that obvious," Claire replied as she nudged the fire-bender with her foot.

"Wouldn't be the first time a bender's tried taking another's plunder," the woman explained.

The Avatar slowly nodded, perplexed by her statement, "Right, well, have a nice day!" she bid her farewell, returning whence she came.

Claire sauntered back through the city, passing a bakery with glass and white wood walls, "'Piandao Bakery'... huh," Claire muttered as she looked up to the sign, only for the agonised yell of an old angry man to catch her attention.

Before Claire could respond, three Ruffians charged out from the alley leading to the back of the bakery, with a large plentiful sack on their back.

"Oh, great, thieves," Claire muttered, as she watched them charge off.

But with a mighty howling gale, Claire propelled herself towards the Ruffians, flying over them before bringing a powerful sweeping kick to their pack leaders head, knocking him back into one of his comrades, smacking his head before pinging into the third Ruffian, effortlessly knocking them into unconsciousness.

Claire swiped the sack as the baker shot out of his door, "YOU NO GOOD THUG BENDE-" the baker shouted, seeing Claire approach with his stolen goods, and the Ruffians out cold behind her.

"Here you go," Claire told him as she handed the sack to the baker.

"Ah! Thank you! Finally, someone who actually does something in this city," the baker gratefully replied.

"Isn't there some kind of town guard? City protectors?" Claire asked as she looked around.

"There are, but over the past give or take two years, they've been slacking, no idea why!" The baker replied as he slung the sack over his back, "Anyway, thanks again uh..."

The baker looked Claire up and down.

"My name's Claire," She replied as the baker raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"Interesting name... can't say I've heard it before," The baker told her, shrugging as he turned towards the bakery, "see you around... Claire?" The baker bid her farewell.

Claire sauntered through the city, spying a large oak tavern in the distance, the smell catching her attention as she marched over, throwing the massive doors open, seeing patrons of all nations sitting and drinking to their heart's content as chatter and ale's scent filled the air.

Claire perched before the bar, silently swivelling in her chair as the barkeep approached, "What can I get for you?" The barkeep asked.

Claire nervously tapped her fingertips together, "...a menu? I've never been here before," she replied, hesitantly smirking.

"Ah, fair point," the barkeep replied as he pulled out a menu, handing it to Claire as she began reading, "if it's your first time sampling the world of alcoholic beverages, I suggest starting with a simple wine or ale."

"I'll try the..." Claire muttered as she pointed to part of the menu, "Bacui Berry Wine."

The barkeep nodded, waltzing off to prepare her drink. Whilst Claire waited, the sound of the tavern doors swinging open caught her ear. The scruffy woman, an elderly man and a black-bearded mountain of a man waltzed through the door.

"I'm telling you! Flew through the air and took out three Ruffians at once!" The man clamoured.

"An earth-bender being that nimble is preposterous!" The scruffy woman retorted.

"She's got a point Fushira, no earth-bender I've known can fly," the Giant replied.

Fushira grumbled, looking around the tavern as his pale green eyes set on Claire's back, stroking his short smooth beard, "Speak of the spirits! That's her!" he proclaimed, pointing to Claire, catching her attention as she turned around.

"Who me?" Claire asked.

Fushira enthusiastically nodded, "Yeah, yeah! White hair, blue shirt, black baggy pants! It's her!" he said as the three approached.

"Can you confirm, Lian?" The giant asked.

The scruffy woman nodded, "Yep! That's the earth-bender alright!" Lian replied.

Claire stood up, waltzing over and standing before them, "Oh hey, it's you! Huh, small city," she greeted Lian.

"These two say some of my boys were roughing up Lian and robbing the bakery, but you swiftly defeated them," The Giant asked.

Claire nervously nodded, "Um... yes, that was me..." she hesitantly replied.

The Giant's eyes piercing through her, his mighty form dwarfing the Avatar as he leant forward, "Well thanks for saving me the trouble of doing it!" he thanked her with a friendly smile, his fluffy eyebrows perking up as his eyes briefly closed.

The barkeep returned with the Bacui berry wine, a red liquid within a wooden bowl, "Your drink, miss," The barkeep said, catching Claire's attention.

The Giant deeply sniffed the aroma, "Ah! Bacui Berry Wine! Nice choice," he complimented her as he whistled to the barkeep, "Barkeep! Catch!" The Giant told him as he flicked several gold coins to him, "consider the White-haired Wonder's drink paid for."

Fushira, Lian and the Giant sat with Claire the three ordering their drinks as the Giant turned his gaze to Claire, "I know what you did was good, but try not to venture too deep into a world you don't want to be in," The Giant whispered.

Claire sipped the wine, "Believe me, I think I'm in as deep as it gets," she replied as the Giant raised a curious eyebrow.

The four chatted for a time until Claire took her leave, departing to explore the rest of the city.

Claire eventually found herself in the city park. The Sun hung in the sky, heading for the horizon as it illuminated the city. The wind rustled the leaves in the trees and the ocean crashed against the shores, the smell of foreign flowers filling the air, fire-benders extinguished torches and people making their commute to work pervaded Claire's ears, the buildings stood taller than anything Claire had seen before as she made her way through the city park. The grass was a light shade of green and a lake streamed all the way through the park from the ocean with bridges stretching over them. From the park, Claire could see several massive statues standing side by side, watching over the city.

A Statue of Aang holding out his glider, a statue of Katara from her youth in a natural water-bender pose stood to his left, a statue of Sokka holding up his trusty boomerang, and a statue of Suki with her arm outstretched holding a fan in hand stood to his right, a statue of Zuko holding his fist to the sky stood next to the statue of Katara, and a statue of Toph with her fists against her hips stood beside the statue of Sokka and Suki.

A Plaque stood inside the park, reading, "This monument stands here to commemorate the six heroes who saved the four nations from the tyranny of self-proclaimed Phoenix King Ozai and the would-be Fire Lor-" Claire read, seeing that the last bit vandalised by a Fire-bender, scorch marks burnt the name off the plaque entirely.

The confused Avatar gazed at the burn before looking up and smiling at the statues, "I've got quite the Legacy to uphold," Claire told herself, the shadow of the statues daunting on her the longer she looked.

A man shouting thwarted Claire's moment of recollection, turning to see him shouting through a cone with a handle, "The benders of this city are vile oppressors! You've seen them, how they treat us non-benders! Treating us like trash, taking our jobs, and extorting the non-benders of this city!" the promoter shouted to the small crowd in front of him.

Claire investigated to see the man promoting someone known as Amon. The white-masked, black hooded man's poster hung behind the Promoter.

"Join us tonight when the moon is full to see our glorious Boss Amon! And how he will bring Harmony to this city and snuff out the benders who torture us so!" The Promoter continued shouting.

As they continued, a group of three different benders approached The Promoter. The fire-bender of the group launching a fireball towards him, but Claire swiftly pulled moisture from the air into a sphere of water, flicking it at the fireball and snuffing it out, catching the fire-bender's attention.

"What do you think you're doing?!" the fire-bender shouted, visibly displeased.

Claire hopped up on the promoter's stand, "I think you should ask yourself that!"

"See how they try to oppress us even now! We cannot even promote our cause without the threat of being burnt!" The promoter told the crowd.

Claire looked to him and the crowd, "Hey, things might get ugly here. You and your crowd should probably run to a safer location while you can."

The man looked at Claire and then at the crowd, "You know, for once. I'm with the bender," he told the crowd through his cone before rallying the crowd and fleeing to a different location.

"You really just had to spoil our fun, didn't you?!" The fire-bender asked as he launched a ball of flame towards Claire.

However, Claire swatted the fire away and faced the group of three, "You call attacking innocent people 'fun'?" Claire asked, confusion echoing in her voice.

The earth-bender of the trio walked forward, "Yeah, it's fun picking on the little people!" The Earth-bender told Claire as he fired a boulder towards her.

But she caught the boulder in her hand, shocking the earth-bender as he stepped back, keeping his gaze on Claire, "People like you really rub me the wrong way!" Claire replied, launching the boulder back and smacking the earth-bender in the gut, throwing him off into the distance.

"Did she just...?" The fire-bender looked to his water-bender friend.

The water-bender shrugged, and in their distraction Claire kicked the earth beneath them, striking both benders in the Jaw, knocking them unconscious.

Whilst Claire rolled her shoulders, the promoter came running back with several police, "There, those three! They're the attackers!" he told them.

The police rushed over, bending metal around the wrists of the Fire-bender and water-bender, but Claire too had been restrained in metal handcuffs, "Hey! What are you doing?!"

Claire tried to shake away the metal, and as she thrashed her restrained arms, the promoter quickly rushed in towards the police officer, "No, No, not her! There was another one over there with the... boulder next to him..." he said, becoming slightly confused as he looked at Claire.

The police looked over to see the man the promoter pointed to, "Oh... sorry, miss!" he replied, unbending the metal from Claire's wrists.

The angered Avatar broke away before turning around to see the police arresting the thuggish benders.

"Are you the one who dealt with these three?" An approaching officer asked her.

"Yes," the still annoyed Claire replied.

"Would you be willing to come in for questioning about the attack?" The officer asked.

"Sure, just don't arrest me on the way," Claire jested with a pointed finger.

They hauled the Three benders into the back of an ostrich-horse cart, escorted back to the police station, with Claire following behind them.


	6. The Mad Inventor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire decides to investigate the mysterious masked man, crossing paths with an unlikely comrade

Claire sat within a silent metal room. A metallic bench stood in front of her, a lamp dimly lighting the room from above. Claire played around with the water from her satchel, bending it into a ball and tossing it between her hands to subdue the boredom of waiting, and as the ball flew, the door open, the Avatar quickly put the water back inside her satchel.

The door slammed with a loud bang, making Claire jump as a woman wearing a black button-up shirt with a popped collar, Dark Green trousers and black knee-high boots entered the room, circling the table to the other side, her hair a Jet black with small tufts of grey streaking through it, and her eyes a pale green.

As Claire and the woman made eye contact, her eyes seemed like two daggers piercing through Claire, " _I'm not entirely sure what a Police is... but this one is kinda scary..."_ Claire thought to herself.

The woman sat in front of her, maintaining eye contact as she rested her arms on the table, letting out a sharp breath before talking, "We interrogated the three benders you beat up. They say you used Water-Bending to swat away a fireball, then knocked them all down with Earth-bending. And I know they believed it to be true, but I must ask. What of you?" she asked, unnerving the Avatar as she took a deep breath, remembering what her masters told her.

"I didn't water-bend, I just threw water at the fireball," Claire lied.

The woman's silence weighed down on the room as she kept her piercing gaze on Claire, "You're lying!" the woman told her.

Sweat broke on Claire's brow as the piercing eyes of the Woman glared into her own, "I'm... not," she hesitantly replied.

The woman stood up, leaning over the table and placing her hands on top of it, Claire's neck retracting like a turtle into her shirt, "There's no point trying to lie, I can use a special earth-bending ability to read you. Now tell me the truth. Did you Water-Bend _and_ Earth-bend?" The woman asked, her tone intimidating Claire as she stayed silent.

Claire straightened her posture, letting out a heavy sigh, "Yes, I did..." she told the woman.

Upon indicating that Claire was telling the truth, she lifted off the desk, straightening her posture with her arms crossed, "So, that would make you the Avatar!"

Claire's eyes widened, trying to think of a convenient lie, but remembered it was pointless, letting out a defeated sigh, "Yes, I am the Avatar..."

Claire slumped in her chair as the woman sat back down, looking and sensing the distress inside the Avatar, "Is there something wrong with being the Avatar?"

"My bending masters told me to keep my Avatar abilities a secret," Claire replied.

The woman raised an eyebrow, as she stood back up, walking around to Claire's side, "Well, you've done an appalling job at it," she said, a spark lighting in her eye as she leant in towards Claire, "Have you been to Zaofu within the past few years?"

But all her questions confused Claire as she looked back at her, "I... don't know what Zaofu is," she nervously replied.

Although the nerves almost through the woman off, she determined her words rung true, standing back up straight and relaxing her shoulders, "It was a question relating to an assault from several years ago, I won't bore you with the details."

Claire winced at the sound of it, her curiosity telling her to delve further, but a voice in the back of her mind telling her not to do it.

"My mother was friends with the last Avatar, so I won't tell anyone suspicious that our recent visitor is the Avatar," The woman said.

Claire looked at her in surprise, "Who was your mother?" the curious Avatar asked.

The woman smirked, "Toph Beifong. And I am Police Chief Lin Beifong," she told her.

Claire stood up from the table and faced her new acquaintance, "I met Toph at the North pole a few years ago... I can kinda see the family resemblance."

The police chief nodded before walking over to the door, pulling it open for Claire to leave, "You're free to go. Stay out of trouble!" she told Claire as she walked through the door, turning back around to Lin.

"Yes, ma'am!" the Avatar told her with a salute.

Claire exited the police station, but some police officers gave her an odd look as she left, "Is that her?" One Police officer asked.

"The white-haired Vigilante? I believe so," the other replied before they returned to their duties.

Stepping outside; Claire saw that the sun was already setting. Seeing the night sky reminded her of what the promoter said, _"Join us tonight when the moon is full to see our glorious leader, Amon."_

Claire's curiosity about Amon had been snared, but with the knowledge of him being against benders, the inquisitive Avatar knew she would need an alternate way to investigate his rally.

Conveniently a man with a flyer for Amon's rally passed by Claire, dashing like to the wind to catch up with him, her sudden appearance startling the man, "Excuse me, do you know where the Amon rally is being held?" she asked him with a bright smile.

The man looked at his flyer, "At the theatre hall when the moon is in the sky, you've got some time until it starts."

Claire happily nodded, "Thank you!" the speedy Avatar replied as she used dashed away, confusing the man as he watched her run.

"That is one fast woman..." the man commented before going on his way.

Claire eventually found the theatre hall, an enormous fancy building with fire powered spotlights illuminating the front of the building. Claire deftly sneaked around to the back of the theatre, finding the entrance to a catwalk, however, a locked iron door blocked her path.

"It's a good thing Master Ho Tun let me dabble in metal-bending," Claire told herself as she sharply exhaled, grasping the door with her hands, pulling the earth within the iron door, and prying it from the hinges before gently placing it by the doorway.

The rally had already begun. The scent of sweat and curiosity pervaded the air, but a ghastly chill shook Claire to her core, startling her before she ventured forth, hoping to stick to the shadows to avoid detection.

Claire crouched down as she walked along the catwalk, getting a good look at Amon. He was a slender man of average height, dressed in all black robes which draped to just above his knees, Black trousers covered his legs, and dark grey metal boots covered his feet and shins, as well as dark grey metal gauntlets covering his hands and forearms, and finally, his white mask which had a peculiar black symbol on the centre of the forehead.

Amon held his arms out towards the massive crowd which had gathered before him like a priest during mass, "My people! It is good to see the ones who have returned and all the fresh faces in the crowd! Our movement grows stronger with each passing day, and soon, I assure you, we will hold every bender of this city accountable for their heinous actions!" he spoke to the crowd, riling them up as they cheered for him.

Claire continued walking along the catwalk, but as she did, she bumped into a man with unkempt black hair wearing goggles which concealed his eyes, a red shirt with a gold line running around the collar and down his chest with multiple stitches in it adorned his upper body, whilst black snitched up pants and maroon boots covered his lower body, his eyebrows were slim and sharp. The unkempt man ignited a flame on the tips of his fingers whereas Claire bent the water out from her satchel, and upon seeing they were both benders, they sheathed their elemental weapons.

"Oh, thank goodness. Another bender," The unkempt man whispered, whilst a confused Claire looked at him.

"Who are you?" Claire whispered back as she observed the unkempt man.

"My name is Kang. Now please be quiet, I'm here investigating Amon," Kang told Claire.

The offended Avatar looked him up and down whilst he thought to himself, "I'm here investigating him too!" she replied, but Kang held up his index finger, signalling her to be quiet once more.

Amon began pacing back and forth atop the stage, "Now, some of you newcomers may have heard the rumour that I can strip a person of their bending capabilities. Well, I assure you, those rumours are true!" he told them as he snapped his fingers, the metal clinking signalling a man in what appeared to be a gas mask to bring out a trolley holding three tied up benders, each on their own individual wooden poles, causing chatter to erupt amongst the crowd.

Kang's sharp eyebrows raised in surprise, "Where did Amon get a hold of them?" He asked in a bemused whisper whilst Claire leaned in closer, "I fought against those three this morning, they should be in prison!" she told him, shocking Kang as he continued watching.

Amon raised his arm towards the captured three, keeping his masked face aimed at the crowd, "These faces you probably already know. A group of thugs who terrorise the streets and non-bender businesses. But soon they will not be a threat to us. Or anyone. Ever again!" he told the crowd, his voice oozing with malice as he spoke.

The masked henchmen dragged the fire-bender of the group towards Amon, showing him to the crowd like a fresh kill as Amon approached, grasping the Fire-bender's throat and slamming him against the wooden pole, his hand raised into the air, the descent of the metal gauntlet reflecting in the vision of the terrified victim as Amon pressing his thumb against the centre of the man's forehead.

The Fire-benders pupils shrank to the size of a pin's point as both his eyes slowly turned black. He writhed in agony, Fire roaring from his hands, the crowd murmuring and watching in curious horror whilst the Fire-Bender struggled against Amon's peerless grip, but the man soon calmed down, the fires sputtering out into sparks.

Amon lifted his hands from the bender, "Cut him down!" he told the man in the gas mask.

The henchmen did as instructed, slamming an axe against the fire-bender's binds.

He tried using his fire-bending against Amon, but nothing happened, as he groggily stepped forward, Amon watched him stumble forward mercilessly striking his abdomen, causing the man to double over as Amon quickly struck the man's temple with a mighty kick, knocking the ex fire-bender over to his cohorts as the crowd burst into an uproar of appraisal whilst Kang and Claire stared in horrified wonder the entire time.

"He really can take away bending..." Kang muttered as he quickly lit a small flame atop his finger, flicking it towards the curtain behind Amon, going unnoticed by the masked man and his adoring crowd, "We should get out of here!"

Kang and a bewildered Claire began running across the catwalk, fleeing out onto the front of the theatre hall.

Amon could hear a hissing sound coming from behind the curtain, his eyes widening as he did, "Kang..." he hissed, "Everyone! Get out now!" Amon called out as he ran into the crowd.

Claire quizzically stared at Kang, an ominous silence hanging over the two, "What did you do!?"

Kang looked toward the theatre hall, smiling as he did, "Three... Two... One..." he counted down as a large junk of the theatre hall exploded.

Claire shielded her eyes whilst Kang looked on in a seemingly maniacal pleasure.

The benders Amon planned to use in his demonstration died almost instantly, along with a handful of Amon's followers.

Blinded by horror, Claire approached the grinning Kang, pulling his sight away from the blast and toward her, "Why did you do... that?!" she demanded an answer as the scent of smoke filled the air, but Kang passively looked at her, his expression communicating his indifference as he cleared his throat.

"It was a necessary evil to learn about Amon," Kang replied, brushing Claire off as he tried to walk away, but before he could take another step, Claire imprisoned Kang in the earth, "Hold on, you were a water-bender earlier, how are you able to earth-bend?"

Claire looked at her hand, hitting her forehead with her palm, "I did it again..." she muttered.

Kang began thinking to himself, ignoring Claire's self-berating, "Oh, could you be one of those Dual-Benders I've theorised about, I've always wondered if it was possible to bend more than one element, kinda like the Avatar!"

Claire let out a heavy sigh, "Do you know what the Red Lotus is?" She asked.

Kang paused for a moment, "Red Lotus? That sounds like an odd tea you buy at a dodgy tea shop for an extorti-," Claire unleashed a small gust of wind in Kang's direction as he spoke.

"Water, Earth, Air" Kang muttered, letting out a loud gasp, "You're the Avatar!"

Claire frantically pushed the earth up to his mouth, "Keep your voice down!"

Claire walked over to the goggled man whilst he poked the recently bent earth, "Sorry. But you're really the Avatar. I never thought I'd meet you... again." he said whilst the befuddled Claire released him from his earthly prison, "Now that I know you're the Avatar, I'm sorry for the way I spoke to you."

Kang briefly bowed to her, Claire watched him as he did, staring into his goggles as he stood back up, "That still doesn't excuse you blowing up that theatre hall," she adamantly replied.

"I know," Kang said, his voice still oozing with indifference. Claire scoffed at him, intending to walk away, but Kang cleared his throat, catching her attention, "You want to investigate Amon as well. It'd be better working together rather than separately, because if you try going after him on your own, it'll be like a Hog Monkey going after a chest of exploding Silver bananas, even if you find the treasure, it'll probably kill you," he explained as Claire raised an eyebrow to him.

"That... is a weird analogy," Claire chuckled, a grin coming over Kang's face.

"I do that sometimes," Kang replied, miraculously getting on Claire's good side as she stretched her arm out to him.

"Well, you've got a deal. I'll help you take down Amon!" Claire told him as Kang grasped her hand, the two forming a partnership together.

"I'm glad you accepted!" Kang replied with a grin, but the sounds of people shouting in the distance interrupted the moment between Claire and Kang.

The two looked to the direction of the noise, seeing people running towards it, "What's going on?" Claire asked.

"Another Riot, come on! We might be able to stop it before things get out of hand!" Kang replied.

"Alright..." Claire muttered as the two ran towards the brewing Riot.

The shouting became louder as they ventured until they saw a crowd of non-benders drunk on Amon's rhetoric, and a crowd of benders sick of Amon's cultist presence in the city had gathered outside of city hall, the two crowds stood a short distance away from clashing, like a pack of wild animals snarling at one another.

"What do you think we should do?" Claire asked, trying to think of what to do.

Kang placed a hand on Claire's shoulder, "I know you want to keep your identity a secret, but you can't do that and keep the balance in the world at the same time. Chaos is running rampant in Republic City because of Amon! And as Avatar. You have to bring Order..." Kang told her in a serious voice until a realisation hit him, "I never got your name."

The Avatar turned her gaze from the ensuing Riot to him, "My name is Claire, and I'm the Avatar!" she told him before sprinting towards where the two crowds would clash.

Kang looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "Claire... strange name."

Claire thrust her fists outward, erecting a tall wall between the rioters, leaping atop it and sprinting across, coating the wall in a sheen of ice as she did.

Kang launched himself up onto the wall with Claire as the two crowds stopped at the wall, trying to climb, but slipping on the ice.

Kang remained ready should any of them try anything, but as the two looked at the rioters, four governors along with Lin Beifong exited City hall.

Gao, a fire-bender sporting a topknot, and wearing red robes.

Sheng, a water-bender sporting slicked-back hair and wearing blue robes.

Hou an earth-bender and brother to Lin sporting a shaven head and long moustache wearing green robes.

Lastly Jing a non-bender and son to Sokka and Suki sporting shoulder-length hair and a wolf's tail, wearing black robes with a sword and fan at his hip.

"This city is a mess," Gao said in a dismal tone.

"Although it would seem an earth-bender and water-bender joined forces to separate the rioting crowds," Sheng pointed out.

Lin stepped towards the Governors, "I recognise that man: He's Kang, a Fire-bender. Mother knew him, and I've arrested him a handful of times when he used to run around with that Giant man and the short guy... I think there was a fourth man, but I don't remember him," she explained.

Hou looked at his sister, then to Kang, adjusting his vision and focusing on him, "Oh! So it is!" Hou replied as he looked back to Lin.

"So if he's a fire-bender, that must mean the woman with him is..." Jing replied.

"THE AVATAR!" Hou, Gao, and Sheng shouted, sending a chill down Claire's spine as an awkward Grimace came over Lin's face.

"Well, secrets out now!" Kang whispered.

The police arrived at the Riot, breaking it up and forcing people to go back to their homes and businesses.

Claire walked across the wall over to the Governors, followed by Kang. The Governors bowed as the Avatar stood before them whilst Lin stood tall.

"Greetings, Avatar!" Sheng spoke in a polite tone as the Governors straightened back up.

"Hello~ Lin!" Kang greeted her. His voice riddled with desire as he peeked out from behind Claire.

But Lin just rolled her eyes at Kang, "Hello, Kang," she replied, her voice riddled with disinterest.

A slight awkwardness rose in the air as Claire cleared her throat, "Hello, uh..."

"Governors," Kang whispered.

"Hello, Governors and Police Chief!"

"Please, come inside. We wish to discuss something with you," Hou told her as he led them inside.

They entered a room filled with rows of pews facing a stand with five positions, one for each governor and one for Lin. A Noble ambience filled the room as each of the governors and Lin took their places, Lin stood in the centre, Gao and Sheng stood to her right whilst Hou and Jing stood to her left.

"Avatar, the city has been suffering these Riots ever since Amon appeared two years ago. We were hoping you would arrive at some point to bring balance to the city," Sheng explained.

Claire observed the Governors, taking in their appearance, and crossing her arms, "You five look capable enough, why can't you?"

"We have tried, but unfortunately our hands are tied. If we take the side of the non-benders, the City will see it as us siding with Amon. If we side with the benders, Amon's Cult will see it as us enforcing the 'oppression' they rant about," Gao explained.

"The Avatar has always been a middle ground in conflicts such as this, a person of power who does not pick a side," Hou said.

"Do you have any ideas or methods on how we could handle the city's situation?" Jing asked.

However, Kang stepped forward, giving Claire time to think, "I say we strike Amon directly," Kang told them.

"And how do you reckon we do that? He's like some kind of... spirit that only comes out during Full Moons!" Jing dismissively replied.

"I have my methods," Kang told them as he pressed his middle finger against the centre of his goggles.

But Claire finally stepped forward, "Taking down Amon without hard evidence that he's behind the riots would cause his followers to become angry, resulting in more if not worse riots."

"Wise words, Avatar. I have had the thought of segregating the benders and non-benders of the city, that way they never come into contact with one another," Sheng explained.

"Segregation will only lead to strengthening tension rather than dispelling it," Claire replied.

Lin placed her hands down on the stand, "Then how do **_you_ **think we should deal with this?"

"From what I've seen of my... short time in the city, there's a power gap between benders and non-benders. Non-benders have no way of defending themselves against the powers of benders, cowering before them like they're some almighty being. So, I think we need to empower the non-benders," Claire explained.

"And how would we do that?" Jing asked.

"We could teach the non-benders of the city how to block chi, and work as a branch of the police, that way non-benders can protect themselves," Claire recommended, some Governors gave approving looks whereas the others seemed unnerved by the idea.

"We could also set up courses to help advance the technology of the city. Who knows how many bright minds are being suppressed because of some thuggish benders bullying them into poverty," Claire explained, whilst the Governors looked at one another.

"I like this plan," Jing replied.

"I don't know... this could make things worse," Gao nervously said.

"Or it could make things better, I'm in favour of the Avatar's idea," Hou told them.

"Fighting Power with power won't work!" Sheng protested.

Lin gazed down at Claire, her hand under her chin, "Her plan might just work."

"Then it's decided. We will go ahead with The Avatar's plan," Gao begrudgingly approved as the governors prepared to leave the room.

"Thank you for your time, Avatar!" Lin said.

But as the Governors and Lin began to leave, Sheng had a realisation, "Where are we going to get a Chi-Blocking master?"

Jing let out a disgruntled sigh, "... I know a person," he quietly said.

Hou cautiously looked to his governing friend, "You don't mean that woman who had a thing for your father, do you?" Hou asked as Jing nodded, "Oh, boy..."

The Governors left whilst Claire and Kang turned to look at each other, "That went better than expected," Kang said.

"It did... you wouldn't happen to have a place I could stay, would you?" Claire asked.

Kang grinned with a giddy chuckle, "Follow me!"

The two walked out of city hall and towards a derelict estate. Claire looked around at the abandoned houses, windows boarded up and doors blowing in the wind.

"You live here?" Claire asked as she looked around.

"In a sense," Kang replied as the two approached an abandoned building, entering its musky atmosphere.

Kang pushed a large wooden pallet along a solid wall, revealing a shiny metal door. Kang pressed a button on the side, making the metal door slide open whilst Claire gazed in wonder.

"Well, are you coming?" Kang asked.

Claire whimsically shook her head, "Sorry, I was just surprised, I haven't seen technology like this anywhere else in the city."

Kang smugly smiled, "That's because there's no one else like me in the city."

The metal door closed behind them as the small room they entered began descending. Claire stumbled backwards, her stomach seeming to jump up to her ribcage as Kang stretched his arm behind her and pushed her back up, "You'll get used to it," Kang said.

The small descending room stopped and the metal door opened once more revealing a large laboratory, inventions ordered along the walls, from prosthetic arms, weaponry, handheld devices and what looked like an electric wagon filled the room as well as the scent of Fire and a distinct smell of pickles.

Claire's jaw dropped as Kang entered the room, "What is all this stuff?" she asked as she gazed in wonder.

Kang spun around to face Claire as he gestured to his inventions, "The creations of a Mad Inventor!"

Kang walked towards another metal sliding door, twisting back around and pressing a button which opened it.

Whilst Kang waited by the door, Claire looked around, spying a painted mug shot of a young -still goggled- Kang hung up on the wall, "The Bank heist of one-hundred and forty-four AG."

"Yep! A souvenir I picked up during my escape alongside two of my buddies," Kang proudly replied.

"So... you're a criminal?" Claire asked, worry echoing in her voice.

"Correction! _Was_ a criminal. Still have some gold leftover from that time, though," Kang explained with a smile before sauntering through the door.

Claire shrugged, following him into a room even bigger than the last. A large covered structure stood in the centre of the room, as a small hut stood off to the corner of the room.

Kang waltzed over to the hut and opened the door for Claire, "I occasionally relax in here, but I have a spare bedroom just in case."

"This is a lot less impressive than all your other stuff," Claire commented as Kang walked into his bedroom.

"Your room is just over there. Goodnight!" Kang told her as he shut the door.

"Goodnight, and thank you," Claire replied, entering the room.

Claire kicked off her boots, laying on her side and sleeping for the night.


	7. Equalising Power

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Amon slinked away into the Shadows, the Governors enact the Avatar's plan

Jing sent out a messenger hawk the night of the Riot, sending it off to the Fire Nation. Several days passed by before a Fire-Nation Air-balloon descended in front of city hall.

Both Jing and Hou stood outside the door, watching the balloon come closer, "She's here..." Hou whispered as he leaned into Jing, "You don't say," Jing quietly replied, pushing Hou back up straight as the Air-balloon touched the ground.

A woman radiating with Youth stepped from the air-balloon, her brown hair with streaks of white, styled into a braid at the crown of her head with the front of her hair styled into a right side part, her eyes were a brownish-grey. And she came dressed in traditional Kyoshi warrior attire.

"HELLO~, JING-Y!" the woman called over to him.

Hou gave a quizzical look to the disgruntled Governor, "Are you sure you got the right person?"

"There aren't that many Ty Lee's in the Fire Nation for a mix up to happen!" Jing replied, embarrassment clouding him.

The woman cartwheeled towards the two, stopping in front of them and leaning in towards their faces, causing Jing and Hou to jerk back, "Hello... Ty Lee," Jing greeted her.

The Kyoshi Warrior observed him silently, "Still got your father's looks!"

Jing cleared his throat as he lightly blushed, "I'm assuming you read the contents of my message?" he replied, trying to move on with why he requested her presence.

"I did! You need me to teach some non-benders some chi-blocking!" Ty Lee told him as she stood up straight and imitated chi-blocking.

"Yes, this is the Avatar's idea. And you were the best person I could think of," Jing replied.

"Oh, The Avatar's here? Can I meet them?" Ty Lee asked nicely.

"Perhaps one day. For now, Hou and I will show you to the Chi-blocking Dojo we've refurbished," Jing replied as he guided her to the Chi-blocking Dojo.

Ty Lee skipped along as they walked whilst Hou looked her up and down, "How is she seventy-eight?"

"It's amazing what regular exercise and a healthy attitude can do!" Ty Lee replied with a wink, making Hou lightly blush.

The three arrived at the Chi-blocking Dojo, Jing threw open the doors, revealing a large hall with training dummies, mats and benches sprawled across it.

"This is your Dojo, Chief Beifong and her Police Force are recruiting right now," Jing explained as Ty Lee pirouetted into the middle of the room, taking in her surroundings, the fresh scent of the air, and the feel of the hardwood flooring.

"This is going to be so much fun!" Ty Lee exclaimed.

"And of course, a governor... probably me. Will be here to assist in whatever way possible," Jing explained.

Hou lightly nudged Jing's side, "Definitely you, buddy."

Months pass by as Chief Beifong and the Governors of Republic City set The Avatar's plan to enrol non-benders into Chi-blocking training, courses in technological advancement, and medical science. The plan went along smoothly, the city even began experiencing blissful peace, and Ty Lee's Chi-blocking Dojo grew exponentially, gaining students day by day, all eager to learn.

"We'll go over the basics one more time, to block a bender's chi, you must strike their pressure points with precision, light quick jabs work best. I want you all to pair up with someone, to begin practice," Ty Lee explained to her class of seventy, all who began pairing up with one another.

Ty Lee looked over to an unaware Jing, "Would anyone like to volunteer as an example?" she asked, her request silencing the room as Jing looked over to Ty Lee, noticing her intense gaze whilst a look of dread crawled over his face.

"Jing-y, would you care to be my brave volunteer?" Ty Lee asked.

Jing cleared his throat, ignoring the chuckles of her students, "Do you think a Governor being an example is a... good idea?"

"Come on, you could learn a thing or two!" Ty Lee replied with a wink.

The Kyoshi Warrior's sultry encouragement caused Jing to surrender his pride, _"I may have just made a terrible mistake,"_ he thought to himself as he placed himself before Ty Lee.

"Benders rely solely on their arms and legs to bend... some rely on their mouths, but they're a rare case," Ty Lee explained.

The Kyoshi warrior nimbly hopped before Jing, "To cripple a bender's arms, strike the biceps!" she explained, swiftly striking Jing's Biceps, his arms drooping down.

"And to cripple the legs, strike the Quadriceps!" Ty Lee explained as she swiftly struck Jing's Quadriceps, causing him to fall onto his back, his body numbing completely.

Ty Lee's students repeated the moves demonstrated by their master, most succeeding, others doing minimal damage, and a handful doing nothing at all.

Jing looked up at Ty Lee as he observed his numb limbs, "How long am I going to be like this?"

"Long enough!" Ty Lee replied with a sultry wink, and although Jing blushed, his screams echoed within his mind.

Whilst the Governors put Claire's plan to work, Amon remained deep in the shadows, with loyal followers of his cause.

A nervous short follower entered the dark ambience of the Amon's chamber, scent seemed non-existent within the walls. The nervous follower took a deep breath whilst Amon meditated on the opposite side of the room, facing away from the door.

"It is customary to knock before entering a room!" Amon menacingly told his follower.

Amon's voice petrified the follower as he stood before him, "Sorry... Boss. I just have urgent news for you!"

Amon sprang up from his meditative position, landing gracefully on his feet before swiftly turning to his follower, "What is this urgent news?"

The nervous follower cleared his throat, "The rumours are true, The Avatar is still in the city!"

Amon placed his hand under the chin of his mask as he walked towards the follower, "Do you have any proof? Because as far as our sources go: The Avatar met with the Governors and that detestable Police Chief then vanished along with Ka- ... that goggle-wearing fire-bender."

The mention of Kang piqued the follower's curiosity, his nervousness fading away for a moment, " _He knows Kang... but how?"_ he thought as Amon approached.

"Our other followers have reported seeing a hooded white-haired woman in the city!" The nervous follower blurted out, sweat breaking out beneath his mask as Amon grasped the follower's collar, dragging him in, their masks just mere inches from each other, the followers' shaky breath rippling onto Amon's form.

"How many have seen her?" Amon sharply asked.

"Seven! Seven followers have reported sightings of her... Boss," The nervous follower exclaimed.

Amon released him, straightening the follower's outfit before walking back to where he meditated, "Then our plans must change: we will capture the Avatar and strip her of her bending! She's an obstacle not easily overcome... and with her here, my plans of harmony are at risk!" The Nervous follower quaked in his boots as Amon turned back to him, "With the Avatar present, we should Air on the side of caution... I'll suspend any more rallies for now, and operate from the shadows."

But the Nervous follower's eye twitched under his mask as he flexed into a confident posture, "Caution is for cowards! Are you a coward, Amon!?" The now overly confident follower asked.

Amon sharply twisted around in shock, "What was that?"

"If you were a real man, you'd take the fight to the Avatar, rather than hiding down here!" The confident Follower said with his finger pointed to Amon.

the Masked man's anger oozed out from under his mask as he strode towards the follower, outstretching his metal clasped hand, but the follower smacked his hand away, surprising Amon as his eye's widened.

"You keep your hands off me, bub!" The confident follower told him as he raised his palm to his side, the air swirling around it as he thrust his hand forward: unleashing a mighty gust of air towards Amon, blowing him back into his small table.

"Wait, you're-!" Amon exclaimed as he perked his head up from the shock, but before he could get up, the follower unleashed a second blast of air, disorientating Amon before charging out of the masked man's chambers.

The impostor rushed down the hall at impeccable speeds, _"I better let Kang know..."_ he thought to himself as he ran out of Amon's hideout.

Claire and Kang remained within the lab. Kang observed several schematics whilst Claire remained seated, wondering what she could do without disturbing Kang's work, glancing to the back door as a mischievous thought came to her mind.

" _While he's working... I'll go find out what's under that enormous sheet,"_ Claire thought to herself before standing up and walking through the back door.

But Kang noticed her departure, immediately knowing what she was up to. Claire waltzed over to the sheet-covered structure, grasping the edge, then lifting it slowly.

"Hello there!" Kang told her as Claire pulled up the sheet, revealing Kang underneath, waiting for her.

Claire leapt back and screamed in shock, her heart racing as she fell over, frantically looking to the door and back to Kang.

"How... how did...!?" Claire asked, gesturing to the door, then to Kang.

The mad inventor stood up from his squatted position, the sheet dropping back down to the ground, "I know you're bored, but that doesn't mean you get to go snooping!"

Claire calmed down before standing back up and dusting off her clothes, "Sorry..."

Claire looked down at the ground, regret washing over her as Kang stretched his arms out to the side, "Do you want to go out into the city? I could use a break," Kang asked her.

The surprised Avatar's head perked up, "Sure... where do you want to go?"

But Kang simply shrugged, "Anywhere you want!"

Claire and Kang ventured out from the lab and into the Derelict estate, going for a stroll into the park. The moon hung high in the night sky, a slow breeze rustled the leaves and flowers of the park, as the nightly smell of the ocean permeated the air. Whilst the two ventured through the park.

Kang looked up to the memorial statue with a melancholy gaze as Claire looked to him, knowing something was off, "Are you alright?" Claire asked, but Kang remained silent, leading to The Avatar nudging the silent Fire-Bender.

"Kang?" Claire called out to him.

Kang snapped out of his trance before turning to Claire, "Sorry what?"

"I was wondering if you were okay... you were looking at that memorial for a while," Claire replied as the two stopped before the plaque of the memorial.

"It's nothing, just thoughts," Kang said, looking to the plaque before seeing a bench by a small pond, "Let's go sit down!"

Kang raced over to the bench whilst Claire looked to the plaque, then back to Kang, sensing something odd in the air as she followed him.

The two sat down on the bench in front of the pond, moonlight shined into the water as Kang let out a content sigh.

"Do you mind if I ask you some questions?" Claire asked.

The confused Kang turned his head to her, "As long as they aren't too personal," he replied as he sat comfortably on the bench.

"What's with the goggles? I haven't seen you without them," Claire asked him.

But Kang simply gazed to her with a displeased look, "That... is something you don't need to know about," he disapprovingly replied.

An awkward tension rose in the air, "... Are you native to Republic City?" Claire asked.

"No, Earth Kingdom... Well, I was born there anyway," Kang replied, surprising Claire as she looked to him.

"But you're a Fire-bender?" The confused Avatar asked, pointing out the obvious.

"Just because I'm a Fire-bender doesn't mean I have to be born in the Fire Nation. I'm obviously of Fire Nation descent, but I've never been there myself," Kang replied as he stood up from the bench, walking over to the pond, looking into his reflection.

"Do you ever wonder if Amon... has a point about benders?" Claire asked, immediately taken aback by her own words, _"Wait, why did I ask that?"_ Claire thought to herself.

Kang perplexingly looked back at her, "Honestly, no. Things were relatively fine before he showed up, and ever since then the City's been tearing itself apart," he replied as he skipped a stone across the lake.

Claire tried to shake off the subject and ask a different question, "I'm not sure if this is too personal but... Why and how do you make those inventions?" she asked.

Kang went to skip another stone across the lake, stopping mid-throw as his arms dropped to his side, "They're... distractions really... to keep my mind occupied so I don't think about... certain things."

"Distractions from what?" Claire asked, her curiosity deepening.

But Kang let out a heavy sigh at her question, "It's not something I want to talk about!" he snapped back as he skipped the stone once again, "No offence."

"None taken..." Claire replied, raising an eyebrow at his sudden outburst, "Have you had any friends in the city?"

"I do, Zu, Li and... Eamon," Kang replied with a heavy sigh.

"Can I meet them?" Claire eagerly asked, but Kang remained silent for a moment, the Avatar fumbling over herself as she tried to think of another question to distract him, "You have a thing for the Police Chief, don't you?"

A smirk broke over Kang's dismal face, as he looked out to the lake, "Yes, Yes I do!" he smoothly spoke before flinging a stone across the lake.

Claire smirked at the sound of his voice, "Is it too much to ask... why?"

"Well, ever since she kicked Zu and Li on their backsides twenty years ago, I've had a thing for her ever since, she's a powerful woman with a rough, hardened exterior, but on the inside, I think she's got a soft spot..." Kang explained with an infatuated tone, "In a way, it reminds me of..."

Kang slowly looked down to his reflection in the lake as Claire raised an eyebrow to him, standing up and slowly approaching him, "Are you okay?" she asked.

But Kang remained silent as he stared at his reflection, "It's nothing... just memories..."

"Too personal?" Claire asked as Kang nodded, "Can I meet this... Zu, Li and Eamon you mentioned?" she asked, hoping to take his mind off the memories.

Kang's head perked up, "I'll take you to Eamon first... then Zu and Li."

The two began walking out of the city park, heading to the north-eastern side of the city. The two came to a graveyard, large gravestones lined up side by side along the grass. Kang and Claire walked into the Graveyard.

An uneasy chill ran down Claire's spine as deafening silence radiated around the graveyard. The two walked over to a gravestone with the name 'Eamon' engraved into it, "Oh..." Claire mumbled.

"Eamon was a good friend... a little naïve: liked talking about how he wanted to bring harmony to the city and the world like Avatar Aang tried to do, But he was murdered before he ever got the chance to begin," Kang explained as he gazed at the gravestone.

"Who did it?" Claire asked.

"A despicable man who wanted to overthrow the city. But with the help of Avatar Aang and Chief Beifong, we took him down... some would call it revenge, we saw it as Justice," Kang told her, a lump building in his throat as he pulled a white flower with a red centre from his leather pouch: placing it atop the gravestone as he sharply exhaled at the touch of the cold stone.

"Come on, I'll take you to meet Zu and Li now," Kang told her as he ventured out of the graveyard, followed by Claire.

The two stood before a house with a green flag on a massive door, Kang knocked on the door rhythmically, several seconds passing before, they heard a ping behind the door, seeing it open, a large burly man in a grey kimono stood before the doorway, he had a bald head, a large black and grey beard and brown eyes.

"Hi, Zu!" Kang greeted him.

A smile came over Zu's face, "Kang! And The White-haired wonder!" he happily greeted them.

"Oh, hey! You're the Giant from the tavern!" Claire replied as Zu smiled.

"The one and only! Come on in!" Zu replied, allowing them into the house.

The three strode into the dark but clean living room, tattered furniture cluttered the room as the unquenchable scent of a brewery permeated the air. Zu sat upon a large couch. As he gestured to two chairs for them to sit on, Kang and Claire sat down on the chairs as Zu observed them.

"Zu, this is Claire. She's the Avatar!" Kang explained.

but Zu bewilderingly stared at her as he heard Kang speak, "She can't do the thing, can she?"

"No, she can't do the thing... I think," Kang replied whilst Claire bewilderingly looked at them.

"Huh, so that's what you meant by 'being in as deep as it gets'," Zu muttered as he scratched his beard.

"What's... the thing?" Claire asked.

"Oh, it's that thing Avatar Aang could do when he touches you and then there's a great big light show, then afterwards you can't bend anymore!" Zu explained, his explanation slightly taking aback Claire.

"I can't touch people and take bending, don't worry," Claire nonchalantly replied.

Zu breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness, I'd be worried about Kang's safety otherwise!" he replied as he pulled out a glass bottle filled with a cherry red liquid, popping the cap off as he drank.

Claire looked to Kang, hoping he could answer the questions going through her head, "... Long story," Kang replied.

"Can't wait to hear it," Claire said.

Kang looked around the room then back to Zu who had just finished his drink, "Where's Li?"

Zu cleared his throat, sitting upon his couch, "He's still out on that job you sent him on... I hope he's alright."

"Me too..." Kang replied as he looked out the window.

A deafening silence fell over the room whilst Claire looked to Kang and Zu, "So!" she casually exclaimed, catching the attention of the two, "how do you two know each other?"

Zu took a chug of a second bottle, "I adopted him."

"Yeah, pretty much," Kang replied with a brief nod and smirk.

"Good thing I did too, saved my hide when we faced down Yakone," Zu lamented, staring at his drink, lightly swilling it in its glass.

"So, you two used to be a part of the police?" Claire asked.

"Well, I was. Long before I stumbled upon Kang," Zu explained, taking a second chug, "I sometimes miss those days with the Chief."

Kang and Claire both smirked, "I've met Lin, I can see why you two could be friends," Claire replied.

"Oh, no. Not Lin, _The_ Chief, Toph Beifong," Zu corrected her with a proud smile.

"Zu only refers to Toph as the Chief, out of unyielding respect," Kang explained as Claire briefly smirked.

"Correct my young friend!" Zu replied, throwing the last of his drink down his mouth, "well, young-looking _."_

Zu yawned as he set the glass bottle down, "Anyway, bedtime!" Zu told them as he stretched his massive muscles, standing up and strolling passed the two.

"We'll see ourselves out," Kang replied as he and Claire stood up.

"Oh, before I forget, what's your name, Avatar?" Zu asked as he stood by the stairs.

"My name's 'Claire'," She replied as Zu raised a curious fluffy eyebrow.

"Huh, never heard that one before," Zu muttered.

"It's not a Four Nations name, so..." Claire replied with a light blush.

"Ah-ha! So there are lands outside the four nations!" Zu spoke with a prideful cheer, "Li owes me twenty gold pieces." he muttered to himself as he strolled upstairs, "See you around Kang and Avatar!"

Claire squinted at Zu as he left, "I tell him my name and he still calls me Avatar," she muttered.

Kang patted her shoulder, his arms crossed, "So, this land outside the Four Nations, how do you know about it?" Kang asked.

Claire turned to face him, "My dad came to the North Pole from there, something about exile. He used to tell me a lot of stories about the place," Claire explained.

"What's it called?" Kang enthusiastically asked.

Claire put her hand to her chin, "I can't quite remember... Aara-something," she replied with a perplexed scratch of her head.

"Forgotten what your Dad told you already, huh?" Kang asked, letting out a deep sigh as his shoulders slumped.

"Well, I haven't seen him for four years, being locked up on a compound for training and all," Claire explained.

Kang briefly looked to the ground before perking his head back up, "Even so, don't go forgetting the things your parents say and do for you," he sombrely replied, placing a hand on Claire's shoulder, a bemused look of worry washing over the Avatar's face, "Because you never know... when they won't be around to do it anymore."

Kang lightly hung his head before patting Claire's shoulder, "I'll see you back at the lab, in case you want to explore the city some more."

Kang departed through the front door, and as Claire watched him leave, Zu walked back down the stairs.

"What was that about?" Claire asked as Zu crossed his arms.

"It's a personal thing that I'm not about to divulge behind Kang's back," Zu replied as he turned and looked to Claire, "just keep his words in mind."

Zu added walked back up the stairs, leaving a perplexed Claire stood in the living room.


	8. Ignite the Flame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Still lacking Fire-Bending, Claire requests assistance from Kang

Claire arrived back at Kang's Lab after venturing out into the marketplace, swiping down her black hood whilst carrying food and technological appliances. Over the month's Claire had become closer friends with Kang, but he remained an enigma.

Claire set the shopping down on a clear side and began searching around for Kang, "Kang! Where are you?"

But her calls were met with silence, worrying the Avatar until she heard Kang's voice.

"HAH! I FINALLY DID IT!" Kang cried, spooking Claire as she saw the Mad Inventor exit from a secluded part of his lab out holding a metal canister.

Claire's eyebrow's raised at what he was holding, "What's that?" she asked, breaking Kang's attention away from the Canister.

"Oh, you're back! How was shopping?" Kang asked.

"It was alright... there were a handful of people giving me odd looks though," Claire replied as concern came over Kang.

The Mad Inventor rubbed his chin, looking to the floor as he tapped his foot, "Not good, more people noticing, Amon possibly onto us..." he muttered whilst a confused Claire looked him up and down.

"Are you alright?" Claire asked.

Her voice smashed Kang's train of thought as he looked up at her, "Oh, sorry. You wanted to know about this, right?"

Claire nodded as Kang held up the Canister, pressing a button on top, causing the metal to slide away, revealing fire swirling around a rod inside of a glass canister, "What does it do?" The curious awe-struck Avatar asked.

"It's a fuel source!" Kang replied in a wondrous voice.

"How did you make it?" Claire asked, her curiosity growing ever further.

But Kang closed the canister, "That is for me to know, and no one else to ever find out!" he dismissively replied as he walked away.

As the mad inventor sauntered off, an idea came to Claire's mind, "You're a talented Fire-bender, aren't you?"

"Stroking my ego won't get me to tell you!" Kang replied.

Claire rolled her eyes, "I wasn't trying to. I was wondering if you could teach me how to Fire-bend properly."

Kang stopped in his tracks, turning back around to her, "Do I look like a teacher?" he sarcastically asked whilst gesturing to himself.

"Well... no, but-"

"Then you have your answer!" Kang interrupted Claire before proceeding to walk away.

But he stopped, letting out an audible gasp as he rushed back over to Claire, "You're still the Avatar, right?"

Claire stepped back, silently staring at Kang, her mouth slowly opening, "Last time I checked... yes?"

Kang leapt back, slapping his palms together, "Then I know just the man to help you!"

"Who?" Claire asked.

"Fire Lord, Zuko!" Kang proclaimed, pointing his finger to the air.

"I thought you said you'd never been to the fire nation? And isn't the palace roughly a week's journey from here?" Claire asked.

"Make that a few hours," Kang giddily replied.

Claire raised an eyebrow to him, watching him march to the back of his lab, the curious Avatar followed him until the two stood before the cloth-covered structure.

"Now I bet you've been dying to know what's underneath here?" Kang mockingly asked as he held the sheet.

"A little..." Claire replied.

Kang grinned as he pulled the cover down, revealing a massive plane-like structure with a turtle shell body supported by six landing struts, metallic tufts at the back with exhaust pipes underneath them, and a cockpit in the shape of a Duck's head.

"Behold! The Magnificent Turtle Duck!" Kang shouted, his voice echoing throughout his Lab.

But Claire's expression turned from one of amazement to one of callous, "The name could use some work."

"No, it couldn't," Kang sharply replied as he opened up a panel on the side of the shell, waltzing around to it and pressing the canister into one of five open slots before quickly dashing out of the room whilst Claire observed The Magnificent Turtle Duck.

Kang shortly returned with four more canisters, inserting them into the four empty slots before pressing down the panel on tightly.

The mad inventor strode back, standing at the side of the shell, admiring his work, "Claire, come over here!"

The Avatar walked around and stood next to him. Kang pulled out a remote, pressing one of three buttons on it, making part of the shell arch down towards the two, revealing a staircase which led to the interior.

Kang eagerly hopped up the staircase whilst Claire followed behind, The interior had the fragrance of a brand new car, and as Claire followed Kang through a heavy metal door leading to the Cockpit, the sound of the stairway retracting back onto the shell echoed in the background as the two took their seats, looking out the glass window and down the bill of the plane.

"So, what does this do?" Claire asked him.

The Mad inventor wiggled his fingers over the control panel before them, grinning like an idiot as he lowly chuckled, "You'll see..."

Kang pressed a second button on his remote. The Magnificent Turtle Duck began arching backwards, the Magnificent Turtle Duck now faced the ceiling as the roof above opened up, revealing the afternoon sky before them.

Kang pressed a red button on the control panel, ejecting roaring flames from the exhaust pipes, "Hold on tight!"

The Magnificent Turtle Duck shot towards the skies, streaming through the metal tunnel as Claire held on for dear life, all the while Kang grinned like a crazed man. The two exited the tunnel, shooting out into the skies above Republic City as Kang quickly pressed a wing-shaped button on the control panel, two wings to emerging from the Magnificent Turtle Duck's sides, with a massive wingspan as they soared across the sky.

Claire slowly calmed down as she looked outside the window, gazing down on Republic City, "We're..."

"Flying!" Kang enthusiastically said.

The people of Republic City looked up as they saw The Magnificent Turtle Duck fly across the city.

But if the people of Republic City could see the Magnificent Turtle Duck in all its magnificence, so too could Amon. The masked man gazed at it from atop his hideout, squinting as his robes blew in the wind, "That must be Kang and the Avatar..."

"Now, Fire nation is to the west and we're currently heading..." Kang said as he looked over at a compass on the control panel, "North!"

Kang banked to the west whilst Claire held onto her seat, the two making their way for the Fire Nation, but as they did Amon rallied two of his most trusted followers and followed the duo to the Fire Nation.

The two flew for a few hours until the sight of the Fire Nation Royal Palace came into view. A red spire stretched out towards the skies with a golden flame atop it, as two smaller tower structures stood firmly next to it. Kang slowly descended towards the Royal Palace, making The Magnificent Turtle Duck hover outside the Palace's front door before he deployed the landing struts, successfully touching down.

But as soon as he did, several squads of Royal Guards dressed in all red armour swarmed to the front door with their fire-bending at the ready, and as word of Kang's Grand Entrance got Inside the Palace, an adviser approached Fire Lord Zuko as he sat within his chamber. Zuko's hair had grown out over the years and turned grey. He also sported a beard just like his uncle Iroh's. The Adviser knocked on Zuko's door.

"Fire Lord, Zuko. A mysterious flying machine just arrived at the front of the Palace!" The adviser explained.

The sudden news immediately caught Zuko's attention, the Fire Lord utterly perplexed by the sound of it, "Take me to it!"

The two set out to the front of the palace whilst Kang and Claire looked at the Royal Guards aligned outside, "I don't think they're happy to see us," Kang said as the two exited The Magnificent Turtle Duck from where they entered.

The duo raised their hands over their heads, "We aren't your enemy!" Kang shouted.

Zuko exited the door to see The Magnificent Turtle Duck, along with Claire and Kang stood in front of it.

"And I am the Avatar!" Claire shouted.

Zuko's glare set on the two, curiously observing them, "Prove it!" he shouted, spooking Kang and Claire.

"Ooh, he's feisty," Kang jested.

"I think he's always been that way," Claire nonchalantly replied before stepping forward.

All bystanders inching backwards, as Claire formed an Air scooter, taking off to the right as she punched out her left fist, causing part of the ground to form a ramp which she glided up and leapt off its edge, finishing her performance by bending moisture from the air into a sprinkle of water above her as she landed, promptly bowing as the water rained down on her, followed by quick clapping from Kang.

"You forgot Fire!" Zuko's Adviser called out.

But Zuko raised his hand to them, "Bending three elements is evidence enough," he replied as he walked down towards the Avatar, signalling his Royal Guards to stand down.

Kang rushed to Claire's side whilst Zuko and she stood at arm's reach, "It's good to see you, Avatar," Zuko greeted her.

Zuko's presence sent a warm fuzzy sensation over Claire as she smiled.

But as Claire smiled, Zuko gazed over towards Kang, a slight chill running down his spine, "Who's your friend?"

Claire looked over at Kang, then back to Zuko, "This is Kang, he's helped me since I arrived in Republic City. And he helped me get here."

Zuko looked at their transportation, raising his eyebrow to it, "What... is this thing?" he asked, approaching it.

Kang quickly flashed before the Fire Lord's eyes, outstretching his arms towards it in an exaggerated pose, "The Magnificent Turtle Duck!"

Zuko looked at Kang, before smiling at The Magnificent Turtle Duck, "I like it," The Fire Lord replied before he turned back towards Claire, "I must ask, what brings you here, Avatar?"

Claire looked into Zuko's eyes, taking a deep breath, "I came here hoping you could teach me more about Fire-bending."

Zuko stroked his beard for a moment, "Did Shu teach you the basics?" he asked, surprising the Avatar

"... He did," Claire curiously replied.

"Then I know just the place to take you," Zuko told her as he pulled out a small horn, deeply inhaling before pressing the horn to his lips, blowing into it and releasing a mighty roar, soon after, Claire and Kang could see a giant shadow streak across the sky, followed by a powerful reptilian roar.

"Is that a, uh..." Kang sheepishly exclaimed

Zuko smiled, "A Dragon."

A large red dragon smacked down next to The Magnificent Turtle Duck, its scales crimson red, its underbelly a dark red, a white mane covered the sides of its face, the back of its legs, the back of its neck, and the end of its tail, two horns protruded from its head, and lastly two massive wings which dwarfed The Magnificent Turtle Duck.

Zuko raised his hand to The Dragon, "Easy, Druk," he greeted him as the mighty Dragon lowered his head towards Zuko, letting out an affectionate growl.

"The Fire Lord has a pet Dragon... and here I thought I'd seen everything," Kang sarcastically said as he crossed his arms.

Zuko turned to Claire, seeing her stare at Druk in wonder, "I'll take you to the place where Fire-bending originated," Zuko explained.

Zuko's sudden offer snatched Claire's attention away from Druk, "How long will that take?"

"Depending on how fast Druk flies. Half a day or so," Zuko replied as he petted Druk's scaly body.

Claire shrugged before turning to Kang, "Are you coming with us?"

But Kang scoffed at her suggestion, "I'm not the one who needs to learn Fire-bending."

Claire lightly scoffed, shrugging her shoulder before walking over to Zuko.

The two hopped onto the back of Druk's neck and set off towards the Ancient Sun Warrior City, leaving Kang behind at The Fire Nation Palace. Kang locked the Magnificent Turtle Duck outside the Palace before sauntering inside.

Over half a day had passed, but Claire and Zuko made it to the Ancient City, landing outside the city as the full moon hung high.

"We should rest, you'll need your strength for tomorrow," Zuko told her, both tired from their flight.

"I had the same idea," Claire yawned as she flopped towards the ground, breaking her fall with a gust of wind whilst Zuko sat against Druk, the two falling asleep.

Back at the Royal Palace, Kang had the grand idea to pose as the Fire Lord, sneaking into the war room and igniting the fires in front of the throne, filling the air with the scent of his flames before promptly sitting on the throne, gazing out into the room.

"So, this is what it feels like to be Fire Lord..." Kang chuckled to himself, but to Kang's surprise, three shadowy figures entered the war room, all looming by the entrance.

"Who dares enter my war room unannounced!" Kang mockingly exclaimed as the shadowy figure leading them raised his hand to the others.

They entered the light of Kang's flames, Amon and his two trusted followers had arrived in the palace, "How old is Fire Lord Zuko?" Amon asked, his voice sending chills down Kang's spine.

"Around eighty years old, give or take," The follower replied.

"Tell me, does that sound like the voice of an eighty-year-old man?" Amon asked.

"No," the follower bluntly replied.

"Correct!" Amon shouted as he raised his hands like a puppeteer towards Kang, The Mad inventor suddenly having no control over himself, his blood seemingly dragging him into Amon's grasp.

"How did you get here? And so quickly? Whilst we're at it, what did you just do to me?!" Kang asked as Amon glared at him.

Amon made Kang's arm move with his free metal clad hand, "Can't you work it out? I'm not the first one you've fought," he replied.

The sensation in Kang's arm surprised the Mad Inventor as he looked at his arm, then back to Amon, "You're... a Blood-bender!"

"Still intelligent as ever," Amon replied as he dropped the befuddled Kang's arm.

"But if you're a bender, why are you trying to bring down other benders?" Kang asked, his voice riddled with confusion.

"The Government of Republic City is weak, they allow the thuggish benders to take as they please, destroying the Harmony of the city, and I said 'No More'," Amon explained as he placed his hand across his stomach, "After the fall of Yakone at the hands of That Giant and Chief Beifong, an opportunity arose for me: I raided his hideout, found his Blood-bending scrolls and in time, made it my own."

Amon released his metal grip before pinning Kang to the ground with the Mad inventor's blood, "But alas, Blood-Bending would not give me the power to strike down the Government of Republic City."

Kang stared at him with frightened wonder, his mouth hanging ajar.

"That power would come from... elsewhere, but now with this foreign power coursing through my veins, the Harmonic revolution, _My_ Harmonic revolution, Has begun!" Amon finished his speech.

But Kang let out a small chuckle, "That's your back story?" he asked.

Amon paused, a deafening silence falling on the room whilst the masked man quizzically stared at Kang, "Yes...?"

Kang let out a heavy sigh, "And here I expected a past riddled with daddy issues," he jested.

But Amon raised Kang into the air with his blood, "I see you developed quite a smart mouth over the years."

The bemused inventor looked down at him, raising an eyebrow while questions flooded his mind, "How do you know so much about me?"

Amon smiled behind his mask, "That is for me to know, and for you... to hopefully never find out," he replied, glaring at Kang before pulling him in, "Now, tell me. Where Is the Avatar?"

But Kang just smiled at him, "Avatar's not home," The Mad inventor nonchalantly replied, but Amon scoffed as he wrote a note, passing it to one of his followers.

The follower then walked up to the Fire Lord's throne and stabbed the note into it with a knife.

"Come, we will return to Republic City, Kang will make for excellent bait," Amon told his followers as they bound Kang's hands and feet before carrying him out of the Palace.

Dawn broke over the Ancient City, awakening Claire and Zuko, as the Avatar hopped up using a gust of wind before letting out a loud yawn.

"Good morning, Lord Hotman!" Claire greeted Zuko.

The Fire Lord peaked out of his right eye, chuckling at her greeting, "Good morning!" he replied as they stood up.

Druk awoke and turned his head towards Zuko, as he patted the mighty Dragon on the snout, "Stay here, we'll be back soon."

Druk replied with a dismissive grunt.

Claire smirked as the two made their way into The Ancient City. Old buildings and statues filled the city, an ancient smell filling the surrounding air. A small group of Sun Warriors and an older Sun Warrior Chief greeted the two at the archway of the city, surprising the Fire Lord.

"I didn't think you'd still be kicking," Zuko said.

The chief fondly smiled, "To what do we owe the pleasure of your arrival, Fire Lord Zuko?"

Zuko silently raised his arm to Claire, "I'm the Avatar, and I need help Fire-bending," Claire explained.

"Another one?" The chief laughed, making Claire raise a confused eyebrow.

Zuko leaned into her, "Aang and I came here a long time ago."

"Come. We shall begin your trial to learn Fire-bending from the Masters!" The chief told Claire.

She and Zuko followed the chief and the other sun warriors, the group guiding them to a large burning flame inside an alter.

"This fire. It is the first, a gift from the Dragons and we Sun warriors have kept it burning for Thousands of years!" The chief told them.

"Whoa..." Claire exclaimed.

"You must take a piece of the flame to the masters, to show you are truly willing to learn the sacred art of fire-bending," The chief explained as Claire nodded.

The chief plucked a piece of the First Flame, holding it in his hand, "This ritual is the sun warrior philosophy. Your flame must maintain constant heat. If it grows too large, you will lose control, but make it too small, and the flame will snuff itself out!"

The chief handed the fire to Claire, the flame flickering in her hand as she gazed into it, "It feels like it's... alive."

"Fire is more than just power. It is life!" The chief replied as he pointed towards what looked like two mountains facing one another, "You shall take your fire up there. And the masters shall judge you."

The Sun warriors and Zuko began making their own way, shortly followed by Claire, scaling the mountainous terrain, trying to keep a constant heat on her flame. After the perilous climb, Claire made it to the area between the two mountains where Zuko, the chief, and the sun warriors awaited her, a large mosaic floor spanned out before her, with an enormous staircase leading to a bridge between the mountains at its centre.

"The judgement of the Fire-bending masters may not prove too difficult for you. You are young, your ancestors unknown to us. And they shall judge you on your current life, not your past ones," The chief explained as he approached, swiping a small piece of Claire's fire and distributing it to the other Sun Warriors who created circles of fire.

Claire walked towards the staircase as several sun warriors began drumming and chanting with the chief and Zuko stood by the staircase.

"To meet the masters present your fire to Ran and Shaw!" Zuko called out.

Claire nodded as she marched up the bridge, letting out a deep sigh as she stood at its centre, parting the fire into two, presenting it to the two mountains.

"Sound the call!" The chief shouted, causing a Sun Warrior to blow into a large horn. The deafening sound of the Horn awoke the Masters.

The mountains shook as Claire took a deep breath, remaining composed. A red dragon emerged from her left, and a blue dragon emerged from her right, the two fluidly circling Claire as the Sun Warriors and Zuko bowed to the masters.

The Dragons stopped circling Claire, dancing around her, "I think I'm missing something..." Claire muttered.

The chief and Zuko looked to each other from their bowed positions, "You taught her the Dancing Dragon, right?" The Chief quietly asked.

"It... may have slipped my mind," Zuko nervously whispered as the Chief worryingly gasped.

Claire closed her eyes, reaching out to Aang as his voice faded into focus, " _Perform the Dancing Dragon,"_ Aang's words echoed in her mind.

Claire opened her eyes, the knowledge Aang bestowed upon her filled her mind, "Dancing Dragon... alright."

Aang's spirit appeared behind her, smiling as Claire focused on the dance.

Claire and Aang stood back to back, raising their hands to the sky, lifting their left legs, before stretching it downwards, bending their right knees, and letting their right arms stretch upwards with their left arms downwards towards their feet.

Claire and Aang began drifting apart, lifting upwards, and bending their left legs outwards and stretching their right legs back as they punched out with their left fists, putting their right arm behind themselves, before twisting around, placing their right feet forward then punching out with their right fists, followed by twisting again and swiping their arms down to the floor.

Claire and Aang twisted back around placing their left feet in front of themselves, striking out with their left hand out with their right hand behind them, followed by placing their right feet in front then striking their right hands up in front of themselves, keeping their left arms underneath their raised arms, before performing a spinning kick as they placed their hands on the ground.

The dancing Avatars repeated similar movements, concluding their performance by leaning over and striking both their fists out to the side.

Aang's spirit faded before Claire noticed him, and the Master's Ran and Shaw ceased their dance, their piercing gaze fixed onto Claire, "I hope I didn't mess that up..." The Avatar muttered as she stood up straight.

With a mighty crash, the Dragons grasped the support beam of the bridge, breathing out a rainbow of flames around Claire as She quickly went to defend herself but the Dragons meant no harm as Claire gazed up at the Dragon fire, utterly speechless as the secrets of fire-bending filled her mind.

The Dragon Fire dissipated, and the Avatar made her way back down the staircase towards Zuko and the chief as the retreating Dragons echoed in the distance.

"Did that help enlighten you about Fire-bending, Avatar?" Zuko asked.

"It... did..." Claire replied, her tone unsure as she looked at herself, "I think I'm going to need a moment to process all of that."

The chief smiled, "The masters deemed you worthy, and gave you the visions of true fire-bending."

Claire flexed her fingers, rolling them into a fist.

Zuko and the chief stood back as Claire performed a basic Fire-bending attack, but instead of a pitiful spark, a powerful flame erupted from her fist.

A giddy expression came over Claire's face as Zuko placed a hand on her shoulder, "I think it's time we return."

Claire nodded, the two returning to Druk and then back to the Fire Nation Royal Palace.


	9. To save a friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kang has been Inventor-napped, and Claire joins forces with a warrior of Kyoshi

Druk smacked down onto the Royal grounds, as one of Zuko's personal guards ran towards him, however, her attire was different she wore a green upper robe with a black breastplate and pauldrons adorned her torso and a fauld draped below her waist, she also wore black slops with dark green boots, Black arm guards covered her forearms, and she wore a green circlet on her head. Her Amber hair styled into a bun at the back of her head, her eyebrows slim and her eyes a pale blue.

"She doesn't look like your ordinary guards," Claire whispered.

"That is Khana, she is my Right-Hand and a part of a special group of warriors that have helped me for over sixty years," Zuko explained as the two hopped off Druk.

Khana stood tall before Zuko, kneeling with her head averted from him, "Fire Lord Zuko, we discovered this note stabbed into your throne within the War Room."

Khana raised her hands to him as the Fire Lord grasped the note, unravelling it, " _Avatar, I have taken Kang. We will wait for you inside the one hundred year war memorial on the next full moon,"_ the note read.

Claire's heart skipped a beat as she heard Zuko read the note's contents, "I need to get back to Republic City!"

Claire began running towards The Magnificent Turtle Duck, but Zuko raised his hand, stopping her in her tracks, "This could be a trap. And you'd be walking right into it."

The distraught Avatar gazed down to the ground as Zuko turned his head to The Kyoshi Warrior, "Khana, go with the Avatar to Republic City. Make sure no harm comes to her."

Khana's eyes widened at the sound of the Fire Lord's command as she stood up, "But Fire Lord Zuko. I can't leave you unprotected!"

But despite her protestations, Zuko placed a hand on her pauldron, "We can't allow the Avatar to be endangered, the other Kyoshi warriors and the Royal Guard will protect me!"

Khana let out a begrudging sigh, "As you wish, Fire Lord..."

Khana took a bow before walking towards Claire, the Kyoshi Warrior's her heart skipping a beat as she gazed into the Avatar's eyes, "I- I will help you to the best of my abilities... Avatar."

Khana quickly regained her composure with a swift bow, but Claire tapped the Kyoshi Warrior's pauldron, causing her to perk back up as Claire smiled at her, "There's no need to be so formal, I'm just a person, not a Lord or Lady... Well, I am a Lady, just not the silver spoon kind."

Claire ran over to The Magnificent Turtle Duck, leaving the perplexed Khana by Zuko. The Kyoshi Warrior looked to the Fire Lord with questions going through her mind, "I think she's still getting used to being the Avatar," Zuko shrugged.

Khana brushed it off before she ran over to Claire, standing by her side whilst she gazed up to the Magnificent Turtle Duck, "Oh... I forgot. Kang has the device that operates the entrance for this."

Khana quizzically looked to the Magnificent Turtle Duck, "Could there be an alternate way in?"

Claire snapped her fingers at the Kyoshi Warriors suggestion, "Good thinking!"

The two began searching around The Magnificent Turtle Duck, circling its metallic exterior.

Khana ducked under the struts, crawling underneath and discovering a hatch with a note glued to it, "Avatar! Under here!" Khana called out.

Claire quickly rushed underneath, "My name is Claire, by the way." she said as Khana and she observed the hatch.

"Claire... that's an odd name... but a nice name!" Khana replied, smiling at her.

Claire opened the note attached to the hatch, _"Claire, if you find this hatch, I'm either in trouble or you're snooping around again!"_

"Your friend sounds just as odd as your name, Avatar," Khana replied with a wry smirk.

Claire stared blankly at her before she continued reading, _"Twist the wheel to your left to open the Hatch,"_ she finished reading before she clutched the wheel, twisting the stiff wheel and opening the hatch after a struggle

The two climbed inside the shell, Khana closed the hatch behind her, sealing it as Claire walked into the cockpit and sat down in the pilot's seat.

Khana sat next to her, gazing at Claire and the control panel, "Do you know how to operate this... thing?"

"I know enough... I hope," Claire replied as she pressed the red button, ejecting a roar of fire from The Magnificent Turtle Duck's exhaust.

The sudden jerk threw Khana back in her seat as she grasped her chair, "What are you doing?!"

"My best!" Claire replied as she pulled on the steering handle.

The Magnificent Turtle Duck began flying upwards as Claire tried to turn it away from the Royal Palace. Zuko looked on in horror whilst Khana's pleads for help muffled within the cockpit, but in time Claire turned the Magnificent Turtle Duck around and soared off through the skies back towards Republic City.

After several hours of flying, the two had made it to Republic City, where Amon stood with a tied up Kang inside the Memorial Statue, seeing The Magnificent Turtle Duck fly by the statue, barely missing it.

"By the fans of Kyoshi! She's flying the Magnificent Turtle Duck!" Kang exclaimed.

Amon gazed down at him, "The Avatar, I presume?"

"No, the Fire Lord's favourite servant," Kang sarcastically replied as Amon rolled his eyes.

Claire flew towards the tunnel Kang and she originally flew out of, pressing the Wing-shaped button, retracting the wings as the two nosedived towards the tunnel. Khana shielded her eyes as they dropped, but The Magnificent Turtle Duck operated on its own, hovering upon entry, deploying its landing struts and touching down softly on the ground.

Khana unshielded her eyes to see her and Claire still in one piece, "You landed better than expected, Ava- Claire."

Claire looked at the steering stick and the control panel, "That wasn't me..."

Inside the Memorial Statue, Kang had used the remote to activate The Magnificent Turtle Duck's 'return home function'. Claire and Khana exited through the Hatch and into Kang's laboratory, Khana stood speechless as she saw it seeing Claire walk through with one aim in mind, but Khana couldn't help but stare.

"I was the same way when I first saw it, but we should really get going," Claire said as she turned back to Khana.

The Kyoshi Warrior shook her head, breaking herself out of her trance, "Yes, you're right."

Khana ran over to Claire, standing by her before the metal door, but Khana only saw it as a wall, quizzically looking over to Claire, "Why are we standing in front of a wall?" she asked as Claire smiled, pressing the button next to the Metal door.

The metal slid open, and Khana to jump back; becoming even more speechless. Claire stepped inside as she pulled Khana into the elevator, the Kyoshi Warrior lightly gasping as she stumbled next to Claire, trying to keep her composure.

The door closed as the two ascended upwards, the sudden ascension making Khana stumble as an odd sense overcame her stomach, but Claire caught her before she could slump down, "It got me the first time too," Claire chuckled as she supported Khana back up to her feet.

The Kyoshi Warrior's cheeks flushed red as she stood back up, averting her gaze from Claire.

The Metal door slid open once more, revealing the Derelict estate to them, "Incredible!" Khana exclaimed as they stepped out.

Claire pushed the wooden pallet in front of the metal door, concealing it from the views of outsiders, "I know, Kang is something else."

The two walked out into the open and saw that the Sun setting over the Horizon, "Is tonight the full moon?" Khana asked.

"A full moon lasts around three nights. And last night was the first one," Claire replied.

The two made their way over towards the Memorial Statue, cutting through City park and standing in the memorial's shadow, however, the Statue was far out on the water with no way to get across aside from using a boat.

Claire looked around, searching for a way across, but Khana cleared her throat, catching the Avatar's attention, "I have an idea!"

Khana faced the statue, stomping her foot in front of the water, revealing a stone path before them.

"So, you're an earth-bender?" Claire asked.

Khana smiled at her, "Yes. Come, your friend awaits!" she replied.

The two ran across Khana's bridge, seeing an entrance, leading into the Statue, the two entered with caution, seeing the dimly lit interior, the salty stench of the sea pervaded the inner sanctum of the memorial and the crashing of waves resonated within the hollow chamber.

As they entered, Khana could sense several people waiting to ambush them, and whilst Claire wandered inwards with one goal in mind, Khana focused on the positions of the ambushers, clenching her fists, causing the stone of the statue to latch onto them and trap them inside it.

The grunts of Amon's henchmen echoed throughout the statue as Claire curiously looked over to Khana, "Did you do anything just now?"

But Khana simply smiled, the rosiness of her cheeks gleaming through her Kyoshi Warrior make-up as she skipped over to Claire, humming a tune to herself.

Claire watched her as she skipped away, following her up the stairs to the peak of the statue, Khana waved to the would-be ambushers trapped within the wall on their way up.

The two made it to the top of the statue. The crashing waves silenced, and the full moon shined through the cracks in the Statue, as Amon stood before them, with Kang bound behind him.

"Run!" Kang shouted through his gagged mouth.

"I'm impressed you made it this far," Amon complimented them.

"What can I say, I've been dying to meet you!" Claire sarcastically replied as she approached.

But Amon raised his hand towards Kang's head, "Not a step closer, or Kang gets it!"

the Masked man's threat forced Claire to stop in her tracks, staring Amon in the eyes, as he lowered his hand, turning his full attention to Claire.

"We can end this peacefully, Avatar. But to do so, you must pick one of two options," Amon explained.

Claire crossed her arms, casually leaning back in her posture, "Go on..."

Amon grinned under his mask, "You either surrender your bending to me, here and now. Or You join me in my Harmonic revolution against this city, assist me in taking down our pathetic government, and bring about real harmony. Do this, and I shall let your friends walk free."

"And if I refuse either of the options?" Claire smugly asked.

"Then you will experience something much worse," Amon replied.

Claire thought to herself, as a sinister Shadow began creeping among the room, faint, almost inaudible voices whispering inside Claire's head, "I..."

Claire's stammering grasped Amon's attention, but Khana lightly smacked the back of her head, "Snap out of it!"

Amon's intrigue had forced his guard to lower, and in that instance, Kang launched from the floor having burnt his bindings, ready to surprise Amon, but the Full moon's influence allowed Amon to take control of Kang's body, the metal-clad hand of Amon flicking up before he could attack, turning the Mad Inventor into his puppet once more.

"Oh, not this again..." Kang squirmed.

Amon forced him to walk towards Claire and Khana, "Decide, Avatar! Join me or Perish!"

Amon strung Kang along, the mad inventor's limbs contorting inhumanly, "Kang, what are you doing?!" Claire asked as she backed away, Khana withdrawing her daggers, stepping back with Claire.

"Trust me, this is not intentional!" Kang replied, unwillingly striking them.

Claire grimaced at Amon as the two dodged, "I won't join you!" she proclaimed proudly.

"Then Perish!" Amon replied as he made Kang unleash a stream of fire, Claire and Khana defended each other from Kang's attacks.

Amon strung Kang along, but the more he did, the more noticeably frustrated he became, "This isn't your true power! Stop resisting me!" he demanded.

Kang continued to resist the Blood-bending, but ultimately he struck down both Claire and Khana, and Amon ceased control of Kang.

Kang fell to the floor as the masked man marched over to Claire, standing over her, kneeling and reaching for her forehead and neck with both hands, "Today, the Avatar falls!"

But as Amon loomed over the Avatar, Khana quickly kicked the floor in front of her, bending the stone underneath Claire and shooting out of the statue and down into the Harbour.

Amon looked over at Khana, fury surging through his deep blue eyes, "You should've specified what kind of fall she'd be taking!" Khana jested as she bound Amon's arms and Legs in stone, quickly grabbing ahold of Kang then leaping from the statue.

Claire saw herself heading for the water, quickly flipping around with a gust of wind, then balancing atop the water.

Khana and Kang descended from the statue, the Mad inventor steadying their fall with quick spurts of fire from his feet and hands, landing outside the statue.

The three regrouped as Kang shivered with disgust, "I hope that never happens again!" he exclaimed.

But before either of them could speak, the three saw smoke billowing emitting from the city, "Oh, no..." Claire muttered, "This isn't good..." Kang said as the two began rushing off into the city with a befuddled Khana following behind.


	10. A City in Need

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Using Kang as a distraction, Amon forces the city to war against itself

The three rushed into the city, the scent of scorched buildings permeated the air, shattered earth scattered along the paths, as Kang and Claire kept their eyes forward.

But Khana sorrowfully looked around at the destruction, "What's happening here?" she asked, confusion and sadness echoing through her voice.

"Amon's been driving Benders and Non-benders of the city against one another for two years. At first, it was just small scale scuffles, now they've escalated to full-blown Riots!" Kang angrily replied.

The three arrived outside City hall, seeing the people of the city clash, non-Benders utilising chi-blocking, whilst benders burnt, squashed, pushed, pulled and froze their enemies and amidst the chaos the three could see Lin, the Governors and Ty Lee - a woman Kang and Claire had yet to meet, but Khana knew very well - fighting against both sides of the conflict, several benders tried to strike Lin, she blasted them all away as she formed a barrier of rock around her, slamming her fists against it and launching segments of the earth at her attackers.

Hou deflected the pieces which flew towards him, his fellow Governors and Ty Lee, "Watch it, Lin. You almost took Gao's head off!"

"Now's not the time, Hou!" Lin shouted back as Hou shrugged and continued fighting off the rioters.

Claire nervously looked to Kang and Khana, "Should we help?" she asked.

But without hesitation, Kang stormed towards the chaos, "I'M ON MY WAY, LIN!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, leaping in and bringing down a crescent of red furious fire upon the rioters.

Claire turned to Khana, only to see she too had dashed in behind him, "I'M COMING, MASTER TY LEE!" She called out, knocking several rioters away with a shock-wave of earth then Chi-blocking any stragglers.

Lin looked over towards Kang as he fought off the rioters, "That was unexpected-" she muttered before returning her focus to the rioters.

Ty Lee looked to Khana with surprise, stunned by her presence in the city, "Khana?! When did you get here?"

"I arrived with the Avatar, I'll explain later!" Khana replied as the two fought together.

Claire looked on at the riot, sighing to herself before swallowing her fear, "... I need to help... just don't kill anyone!"

Claire sprinted in and quickly subdued several people by freezing them in a wall of ice, delivering flurries of punches and mighty gusts of air, but as the riot waged on, Claire stopped, observing it whilst Kang, Lin, Khana, Ty Lee and the Governors fought with everything they had, but all the Avatar saw was a meaningless battle orchestrated by a delusional man.

Whilst Claire watched she saw both Kang and Lin fight side by side, but rioters mercilessly ambushed them, their chi blocking as the two to fell against one another, collapsing to the ground.

A piece of earth struck Gao, knocking him out and down to the ground.

A vicious torrent of water blasted Hou, throwing him to the steps of City Hall where water-benders quickly froze him to the stairs.

A Fire-bender attacked Sheng by surprise, a blaze striking his back, burning his clothes and skin as he fell to the ground.

Khana deflected an incoming boulder from striking Ty Lee, but the impact created a dust cloud around them, leaving them both open to Chi-blockers, both falling to the floor as their chi blocked and muscles numbed.

Lastly, Jing, although he took out many Rioters with his fan and sword, they ultimately overwhelmed him, until exhaustion forced him into unconsciousness.

Seeing her friends and allies fall before her, Claire's eyes flashed with a bright light, her fists clenched as energy rose around her, the Avatar's white ponytail flowing upwards, her eyes glowing with radiant light as she leapt into the air, the ground shattering beneath her.

Claire descended with a mighty smash, unleashing an unparalleled gale of air, disorientating the rioters, before quickly thrusting her fists in the air, imprisoning every person, except her friends and allies, within unbreakable earthen cones.

Claire ascended into the air on an air spout, her eyes still glowing as she looked down on the people, "This battle is meaningless! We built this city to bring harmony to all cultures of the world! A beacon of freedom! But all you do is squabble for power, trying to squash one another!" Claire roared, Aang's voice speaking in tandem with her own.

Her words as it boomed across the city while the rioters looked up in fear, not knowing what The Avatar who some revered and others despised would do to them.

But before Claire could continue, Amon approached, clapping his hands as Claire descended to meet Amon, "Riveting speech, Avatar, but ultimately pointless. You are an outsider to these people, an interloper. You do not know the suffering of this city, how the government allows benders to abuse their power, causing people to live in fear and poverty. This is no city of harmony!" he adamantly said, standing firm against Claire, "But I am a beacon to those people, and these Riots are my fire!"

The masked man pulled the surrounding water to his side, shocking the rioters, however, others cheered for him.

"Get her Amon!"

"Show The Avatar we're not to be trifled with!"

"Give it all you've got, Avatar!"

"Good luck... Claire" Kang muttered as he lay on the ground next to Lin, turning his head to the paralysed Police chief, swiftly raising his eyebrows up and down, but Lin just rolled her eyes.

Claire unleashed a slash of fire at Amon, but he deftly leapt over, bringing down several lashings of water on Claire. However, to Amon's surprise, she took control of the water, deflecting it back as Amon deftly avoided the counter-attack.

Claire sprinted towards Amon at a furious pace, but the masked man swiftly swiped his foot along the ground, covering it in a sheen of ice hoping to throw Claire off her balance, but the Avatar slid along the ice towards Amon at an even faster pace.

A black aura radiated around the desperate Amon, but as Claire came face-to-mask with him, she unleashed a roaring blast of fire directly before him, the black aura faded as the masked man instinctively raised a wall of ice between him and the fire, but the flames melted through it, striking Amon directly and knocking him to the ground, his clothes and skin burnt from the power of Claire's flames.

Claire formed a large spear of ice above Amon, poised to strike him down, but in all her Spirit fuelled anger, she remembered what she told herself, _"Don't kill anyone!"_

And with the echoing of those words, the Ice spear turned to water, drenching Amon as she descended from The Avatar State.

Lin picked herself up from the floor, her numb limbs regaining feeling as she rushed over to restrain Amon in metal cuffs, "I can't think of the words to describe how satisfying this is."

Lin restrained his arms and upon seeing that the fight had concluded, Claire let out a heavy sigh, sombrely looking around at the rioters, the earthen cones shattering as they fled.

"That was quite the show!" Kang told her as he hobbled over with Khana and Ty Lee in tow.

But Claire looked at her hands with raspy breath and narrowed eyes, "Yeah... it was."

But before the Avatar could properly comprehend what had happened, Ty Lee rushed in front of her, scaring Claire back to reality as Ty Lee intently gazed at her, "So, you're the Avatar!" she wondrously exclaimed.

"Yes... I am?" The frightened Avatar replied as Khana interjected.

"Master Ty Lee. Please, calm down," Khana awkwardly replied.

Ty Lee observed Claire whilst the befuddled Avatar looking to Khana, "This is Ty Lee, the leader of the Kyoshi warriors back in the Fire Nation. She taught me some of the things I know," Khana explained.

Ty Lee ceased observing, perking her head up and putting her fists to her hips, "Yep! I did, except for Earth-bending. She picked that up herself!" she explained.

But as she looked around, Kang caught the Kyoshi Warrior's eye, gasping as she looked at him, bemusing Kang as Ty Lee thought to herself, "You seem... familiar..."

But before she could assess him further, Kang turned his attention to Claire, "We should help the Governors!" The nervous mad inventor said as he rushed away.

Claire quickly followed, helping Hou by unfreezing him from the steps, whilst Ty Lee helped Jing up from the ground.

Khana picked up Gao's unconscious body, and after unfreezing Hou Claire and Kang rushed over to Sheng, the Avatar healing his wounds before Kang assisted him off the ground.

Whilst the four helped the Governors, Lin hauled Amon off to the Police Station, the masked man seemingly accepting his fate of incarceration.

With Amon in prison, the City experienced a moment of peace: His followers fled underground, but Amon hadn't given up just yet.

Kang, Claire and Khana stood before Lin and the Governors inside City Hall, the ambience noble as ever whilst they planned a way to bring order to the city's chaos.

"With Amon in prison, I don't think there's anything to worry about," Sheng said.

But Kang stepped forward, "I wouldn't be so sure about that, Governor Sheng."

Kang's sudden protest caught everyone's attention, "Why is that?" Gao asked.

"Think about it, Amon called the riots the fire to his beacon. That must mean he's stirring up the riots," Kang explained.

"Well yes, we worked that out, but he's behind bars now!" Sheng argued.

"But Amon couldn't have stirred up the last Riot on his own, I would know. He had me hostage inside the memorial statue all day," Kang explained further.

Lin curiously rose from her seat, "Which means he must have groups of people going around stirring up each side then forcing them to war against one another."

"Exactly!" Kang replied, thankful Lin understood what he meant.

"Amon constantly preaches about bringing harmony to the city, so why stir up dissonance between the people?" The befuddled Jing asked.

"I think Amon is using the riots to bring down Republic City's government so he can put himself up as the ruler of the city," Kang theorised.

"If he is rousing aggression between benders and non-benders, I'll tell the police force to halt all demonstrations done in Amon's name," Lin told them as she sat back down.

But Lin's words dragged up a memory, "Those men Amon brought onto the stage," Claire muttered.

"What's your input on this, Avatar?" Lin firmly asked.

the Avatar turned her worried gaze to Lin, "The three people who attacked that demonstration in City Park when I arrived in Republic City, they were the same people Kang and I saw dragged out at Amon's Rally in the theatre hall."

Claire's information caught Lin off guard, the Police Chief gritting her teeth, "What are you implying?"

"There must be corruption in the Police force, that's the only way I can think Amon got those men for his Rally," Claire replied.

Lin hung her head in dismay, clenching her fists on top of the stand, "Is it true, Lin?" Hou asked as he placed a hand on Lin's shoulder, "I... have suspected it for a while now, I just didn't want to bring it to light," Lin dishearteningly replied.

"Then we must root them out, Amon is a disease to this city! We must strike against him and his followers now whilst the Iron's hot," Gao adamantly said.

"Claire, Khana and I will work on a plan to find Amon's hideout. Lin and Hou work on taking out Amon's followers in the Police force," Kang instructed them.

"Excuse me, who made you the instructor of this operation?" The Offended Sheng asked.

"I did!" Kang smugly replied before walking away, followed by Claire and Khana after they bowed to the Governors.

"I hate that guy..." Sheng muttered as he slumped back in his seat.

But Kang quickly zipped back over, looking Sheng dead in the eye, "I heard that!" he snapped before zipping back over to Claire and Khana.

Kang's sudden antics made a half-smile crack over Lin's face, "Hate him all you like, he's right about what we need to do," The Police Chief told the Governors as she walked away.

At the Police station, an officer brought food to Amon's cell. The Masked man's back turned from the cell, facing the wall in a meditative position.

The officer slid the food into Amon's cell, "Upon the next full moon, you'll be free, Boss!"

Amon reached behind him, grasping the food, "Good, don't let me down." he replied coldly as the officer nodded, walking away and leaving Amon in his meditative position.

Claire, Kang and Khana returned to the Lab, Khana continuing to marvel at Kang's creations as they walked in.

But a realisation hit her as she curiously gazed at Kang, "Kang... Why is it that your technology is so advanced, but the rest of the city's isn't?"

Khana's questioning stopped Kang in his tracks, but he didn't turn to look at Khana, "I prefer to... keep to myself," he replied in a bitter tone.

Claire backed off slightly whereas Khana stood her ground, "The things you create are amazing, Kang! Keeping them locked away down here when you could share their greatness with the rest of the world is selfish!" The Kyoshi Warrior argued.

Kang turned his head toward Khana, "Do you remember what happened last time someone tried sharing their 'greatness' with the world?" he asked as he turned to face her, "One Hundred Years of senseless bloody war..."

Kang's gaze pierced through his goggles and into Khana's eyes, but the Kyoshi Warrior stubbornly crossed her arms, "That was different, Sozin invaded the Earth Kingdom and the other nations to colonise the world in the name of sharing their 'greatness'!"

"And what is to stop someone like Sozin from sharing my 'greatness' the way he did!?" Kang raised his voice, making Khana jump back, "If I let these inventions out into the world, and they get into the wrong hands, who knows what will happen!?"

Khana stepped back whilst Kang continued his march, "These inventions are _my_ distractions! I will be the one who decides what happens with them, and no one else!" he sombrely proclaimed, clenching his fists as he tried to control his breath.

"But Kang!" Khana tried to continue arguing, but Claire interjected, "That's enough!" Claire shouted.

Khana looked at Claire, the Kyoshi Warrior's mouth hanging ajar, as Kang heavily exhaled through his nose, "Claire!" Khana persisted.

but the Avatar glared at her, "I said that's enough! If Kang doesn't want to share his inventions with the world, then that is his decision, neither you nor I can dictate how he uses them!" she firmly said before turning her attention to Kang, "And I respect your choice, Kang. But there was no need to speak to Khana in that way!"

Kang looked down at the ground, rubbing his forehead and sighing, "I let my temper... get the better of me, sorry," he begrudgingly replied.

Claire let out a heavy sigh as her eyes slowly darted between her friends, "We need to plan our next step against Amon, and we can't do that with you two at each other's throats!"

Claire's protest forced Khana to swallow her pride, looking Kang in the goggles, "She's right..."

"Indeed, come on," Kang indifferently replied as he turned around and waltzed towards a table.

Claire and Khana sat down with Kang, both looking to him to talk, but before he could a man in a yellow vest and brown pants wearing sandals walked through the elevator door, his hair messy and unkempt.

"Li? You're finally here!" Kang said aloud as he perked his head up.

"I'm Kane actually, would you like me to get Li for you?" Kane nonchalantly replied.

"Oh, yes, please!" Kang politely replied as Claire and Khana looked to each other.

Kane pulled a stick from his pocket, placing it to the side of his head, "Hello? Li? Yes, Kang wants to talk to you!"

Claire and Khana watched him with curious wonder whilst Kang heartily tapped his fingers.

Kane's eye twitched as he shook his head, putting the stick back in his pocket, "Ah! Kang! Where have you been?" Li quizzically asked.

"Sorry about that, I had a run-in with Amon..." Kang replied.

Li looked at him with mild shock, "At least you made it out in one piece!" he replied, reaching into his back pocket, "Anyway, Gai got the information you needed!"

Li threw a scroll to Kang, The mad inventor snatched it out of the air and began scanning through it, "Tell Gai I said 'Excellent work'!"

Kang pulled out a small sack of gold pieces, throwing it to Li.

The strange man caught it in the palm of his hand and looked into the sack, "Pleasure doing business with you, Kang!"

Li exited the laboratory, But before he reached the elevator, he quickly zipped back over, "And Kang... I know Amon's in prison and all... but there's something weird about him."

Li's words brought an uneasy air over both of them, "Like what?" Kang asked.

"Well... he knows you... by name. And you're like a ghost in this city," Li uneasily explained.

"I know... I think he knows about Zu as well, so by extension, he might know about you too..." Kang replied, a chill going down both their spines.

"Yeah..." Li replied, smacking his lips before perking up, "anyway, Zu and I have a bakery to raid!"

Li ran for the elevator, "Can you pick me up some Fire Buns?" Kang called over to Li as the strange man entered the elevator, "What kind of friends would we be if we didn't?"

The elevator door slid shut, Kang smiling at him whilst Claire and Khana quizzically looked at him.

"I said I have my ways of finding Amon's hiding place," Kang told them as Claire got comfortable.

Khana pointed to the elevator, raising an eyebrow to Kang "What was all that about?"

"He has an ability or condition. His personality changes whenever he hears a certain word or 'makes a call' through that stick," Kang explained.

"...Weird," Claire abruptly said as Kang aggressively nudged her arm.

"Don't be rude," Kang replied as Claire rubbed her jabbed arm.

"So, where's Amon's hideout?" Claire asked.

"Deep inside The Dragon Flats Borough, it's a non-bender estate close to here. And the entrance is on the far west side of the estate, indicated by a red wooden door," Kang recited what he read on the scroll.

"I'm guessing we won't be going through that door?" Khana asked.

"Precisely, we need to find the building it's attached to, then squeeze in through the ventilation network. Once we're in we need to take out all the people in there, and then Amon's cult following is done for," Kang enthusiastically replied.

"When do we strike?" Claire asked.

"In the dead of night. If we attack during the day, people will spot within seconds. But with the cover of night, we should be able to slip in without a problem," Kang explained.

"What time is it now?" Khana asked as Kang pulled out a small, well worn circular device, pressing a button as a panel tipped open.

"The time is four in the afternoon," Kang replied, pressing the panel back on and pocketing the device.

"Then we strike tonight!" Claire enthusiastically replied.

Kang raised a finger to the air "Yes!" he said as his finger pointed to Claire, "but you're woefully underprepared."

"I'm... what?" Claire asked, her and Khana looking to each other with puzzled expressions.

"If we plan to invade Amon's hideout, we'll need to be prepared, and although you're well trained in the elements, you aren't trained in fighting," Kang explained.

Claire shot up and confronted Kang, "I can fight well enough!"

But Kang stood unflinching, "Prove it then, you're stood in front of the Greatest Fire-bender and an Elite Warrior is sitting adjacent from you," he explained as he sauntered around towards the elevator, "I'll be waiting outside!"

Khana stood up from her chair, walking over to the bemused Avatar, "I know what you're thinking... and he's got a point,"

Khana lightly patted Claire's shoulder before strolling towards the elevator.


	11. Rooting out Corruption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kang and Khana train Claire whilst Lin and Hou root out the corrupt Officers

Kang and Khana stood before Claire, the mid-afternoon sun beating down on them, "Alright, here's how it'll go, Khana and I will take turns fighting you, the sidelined one will observe whilst the one fighting will... well, fight," Kang explained.

Claire affirmatively nodded, "Sounds simple enough," she replied, confidently pumping her arms and punching the air in front of her, "bring it on, 'Greatest Fire-bender'!"

Khana stepped off to the side, kicking up an earthy stump whilst Kang stood with his arms crossed.

Claire dashed in, pirouetting before Kang as water bent out from her satchel, spinning around like a razor's edge, but Kang simply pushed himself upwards on jets of fire. Claire ceased her attack, seeing Kang land behind her.

The Avatar kicked a boulder up behind her, kicking back and propelling it at Kang, but the mad inventor turned to face it, casually stepping aboard then hopping off as the boulder flew into the ground behind him.

Claire turned to face the Smugly grinning Kang, letting out a disgruntled sigh before charging in, fire igniting on her fists as she struck out with a flurry of punches and kicks, but Kang weaved between them, no punch or kick landed, and out of frustration, Claire launched herself into a vertical spinning kick, but Kang leapt to the side watching her spin before coming to a halt.

The Avatar flew high into the air, arching her foot up then descending towards the mad inventor, but as her foot came close, Kang rolled forward.

Claire landed behind him as he pumped himself up from the ground, casually sitting on Claire's back.

"Khana!" Claire shouted.

"Yes?" Khana replied, raising an eyebrow to her.

"Is he sat on my back?"

"Yes!"

Claire embarrassingly hung her head as Kang looked down to her, "Would you like a critique or do you want to keep going?"

"... Critique," Claire muttered as Kang hopped off.

Claire stood to face Kang, blushing and looking to the ground whilst Khana approached.

"Well, Ava- Claire. You kinda fight like a... Stylish Ox," Khana explained.

Claire raised a bemused eyebrow to the Kyoshi Warrior, "A... Stylish Ox?"

Khana and Kang nodded and hummed whilst Claire's eyes darted between them, "Basically some of your attacks are flashy but you also fight like an unstoppable force." Kang explained.

"In a fight, unless you're clearly the better fighter, you shouldn't rush in so brazenly. Study your enemy then make your move," Khana explained.

"Your attacks were also fairly predictable... except that water pirouette, that was interesting," Kang said.

But Claire glared at him, "Maybe if you'd have fought back, they wouldn't have been predictable!"

"Oh no, wounded pride," Khana muttered to herself.

But Kang chuckled at the Avatar's snapping, "Oh, trust me, Claire, if I fought back, you'd be on the ground in mere moments."

Kang proudly crossed his arms, "Is that so?" Claire snarled, "you call yourself the Greatest Fire-bender, but all you could do is dodge!"

Claire's arms tensed up, her fists clenching as Kang shook his head, "Are you sure you want to properly fight me?" Kang asked, rubbing his neck.

"Yes!" Claire firmly replied.

"Are you Truly, _Truly,_ sure?"

"YES!"

Claire's eyes flared as Khana backed away, "Alright then," Kang replied, pulling out his Timekeeper, "one minute, one single minute is how long I'll give you."

Kang pocketed his Timekeeper whilst Claire raised her palms to the Mad inventor, but before she knew it, Kang's fist shot into her gut like a rocket, blasting the wind out of The Avatar and propelling her far away from the Mad Inventor.

"Kang!" Khana shouted.

But he simply raised a hand to her, "Sit down, Khana," Kang calmly said, "Now I'm no teacher, but I can at least teach the Avatar a lesson in humility, and that being the Avatar is about more than just strength."

Kang held a condensed blazing flame in his right palm, deeply breathing as he looked to Claire.

Claire stood back on her feet, looking to Kang in the distance, clasping her stomach with a water covered hand, slowly healing the wounded area, grimacing as blood trickled out of her mouth, "By the Moon, that attack was... inhumanly strong."

Before she could say more, an indomitable wall of flame roared towards her. The Avatar quickly formed an Air Sphere around herself, protecting her from the flames, but not from a surprise sucker punch to the jaw from the Mad Inventor.

Claire flew towards the houses, quickly regaining her balance and running up to the roofs, trying to keep her footing as her legs quaked, but Kang appeared out of nowhere once more, kicking her from the roofs before flying over on jets of fire.

Kang latched his grip onto Claire's face, pushing her down to the ground, embedding her as he pushed himself and the Avatar along on jets of flame, Claire stared in utter confusion whilst Kang smugly grinned.

Claire kicked Kang off, the mad inventor releasing his grip as he jumped back. Claire firmly punched out a wave of stalagmites at Kang, but his presence loomed behind her, the Avatar's eyes widened, a chill running down her spine as Kang kicked out at Claire's head, striking her with merciless force, firmly planting the Avatar's face in the dirt as the force of the kicked ploughed the ground.

Zu and Li walked out of their house, hearing the commotion, only to see Kang looking at his Timekeeper, whilst Khana frantically shook Claire.

"Oh dear, looks like Kang gave the Avatar a thrashing," Li said aloud as the two ran over.

"Kang, what did you do!?" Zu asked.

The Mad Inventor looked up to the Giant, "Well, she wanted me to fight her properly, and I did."

"Buddy, just because someone asks for it, doesn't mean you should give it to them," Zu explained.

But before Kang could reply, Li waved the two back, "You two bicker later, I've got an Avatar to revive."

Li knelt next to Claire, inspecting her, "Can you help!?" Khana frantically asked.

Li affirmatively nodded, "Best healer in the city, just give me a minute."

Li bent two spiralling rings of water around his palms. He swished the spiralling water along Claire's body, a brilliant light radiating from it before fading away, "She'll be good as new in three... two... one..."

Claire's eyes shot open, her vision blurred and ears ringing, the sounds of Khana calling out to her muffled against her hearing.

 _"So... that's what it's like to go toe-to-toe with the Greatest Fire-bender,"_ Claire thought to herself as she gazed to the sky, _"Here I thought being the Avatar meant I was on top of the world... stronger than any other... boy was I wrong,"_

_"One minute... I couldn't last one minute against Kang... good thing he's a friend..."_

Claire sat up, her hearing and vision returning to normal, "Claire! Are you okay?" Khana asked as she held her hands on the Avatar's shoulders.

"... Never better," Claire replied with a wry smirk before turning to Li, "and thanks for the healing."

Li smirked, "Hey, can't let you go making a tradition of Northern Avatar's dying young."

Claire chuckled as she and Khana slowly stood up, "Oh, hi Zu," Claire greeted him.

Zu briefly bowed his head "Avatar."

"So... Khana, up for some training?" Claire asked, surprising the Kyoshi Warrior.

"Are you... sure?" Khana nervously asked, looking Claire up and down.

"Best. Healer. In the City," Li whispered, the Giant lightly nudging him.

"Of course!" Claire happily replied.

Khana shrugged, taking her position in front of Claire whilst The Boys strolled off to the side, Zu kicking up an earthen chair for each of them.

"Don't worry, Claire. I'll be gentle," Khana told her in a sultry tone as she raised her fists.

The Avatar's cheeks flushed with a rosy red as the jaws of The Boys hung slightly ajar, "Oh my," They said in unison, watching the ladies engage in combat.

Whilst Khana and Claire trained, Lin and Hou rounded up all of her police officers to begin the interrogation. The Police Chief lined all fifty of the police officers up, whilst Hou sealed off the room.

Hou approached Lin, clearing his throat before cupping his hands on his abdomen, "We're ready to begin, Lin."

Lin glared at her officers, slowly sizing them up, "I will ask you all individually, one question, and you will answer with a yes or a no. And don't even think about lying!"

Lin approached the first officer in line, placing herself in a sturdy upright stance, looking them dead in the eye, "Do you follow Amon?"

"No, Ma'am!" The officer replied.

A brief second of silence came over the hall, "You're free to go."

Lin replied moved to the second officer, "Do you follow Amon?"

"N-no, ma'am!" The officer replied.

A grimace overcame Lin's face as he spoke. The Police Chief delivered a vicious strike to the second officer's gut, followed up by a powerful uppercut to their jaw, launching the officer off the floor, then crashing down on the floor.

Hou winced as the officer groaned, "Thank you for serving as an example," Lin bitterly told the officer as Hou walked over and wrapped them in a metal coat, taking them away.

Upon seeing how Lin planned to deal with Amon's followers one officer bent the earth beneath them and slid away down into the prison cells below as the two stood next to him stepped closer together to conceal his disappearance, however, Lin detected something going on and approached the two.

"Are you two up to something?" Lin asked them.

"No, ma'am!"

Detecting that they were telling the truth, since they weren't the ones up to anything, Lin returned to interrogating the other officers.

Many of them did not follow Amon, but fourteen of them did: Six who lied and eight who proudly admitted it, but Lin judged them all equally, savagely beating all the police officers who worked for Amon before Hou took them away.

As the interrogation ended, Lin realised, she only interrogated forty-nine officers, a chill slithering down her spine, "Quickly! To Amon's cell!"

Lin rushed to the prison cells, pursued by a bemused Hou, realising Lin's fear as they arrived: the rogue police officer had set Amon free.

The Rogue police officer who sneaked off had freed Amon and returned him to his hideout.

"It's a shame Lin uncovered my followers in the police force," Amon said

"We will remember their sacrifice, Boss!" The rogue police officer replied.

"Indeed, we will," Amon coldly said as the two fled for the hideout.

The night had dawned on the city, Kang, Claire and Khana returned to the lab to rest, and as Kang's small device hit seven o'clock a loud ringing went off in his Lab, making Claire and Khana jump in surprise from their rest.

Meanwhile, Kang arose peacefully stretching out his arms, aiming an index finger at the source of the loud ringing and shooting a small flame at it, turning it off, "Good evening!"

The two ladies regained control of their breathing, Khana looked at Kang, seeing he still had his goggles on, "Do you ever take those things off?"

"Nope!"

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to."

Khana shrugged, "Did you... sleep?"

"Bold of you to assume I sleep."

Khana raised a worried eyebrow, "I think I've heard enough judging for one day, let's go invade that hideout!" Claire said as she flipped up into the air, landing on her feet, followed by Kang rolling off his chair and onto the floor, pressing his hands against the floor then pushing himself up into a handstand then flipping onto his feet.

"Show off's!" Khana chuckled as she stood up normally.

The three ascended out of the lab and into the derelict estate, striding out into it as Claire looked around at the dilapidated buildings, "Why don't the governors try fixing up this estate?"

"It would cost too much to fix up the entire estate, plus it's the home of multiple gangs," Kang explained, making Claire shuddered as they continued into the city.

"So, where is The Dragon Flats Borough again?" Claire asked as the three stood at the border of the Derelict Estate.

"It's to the west of the city, not too far from here. Khana can use her earth-bending to get us onto the rooftops once we're there," Kang explained before leading the way.

The three made it to the Dragon Flats Borough a dingy estate with an odd smell to it and an ominous silence lingering over it.

Khana pushed an earthen column out of the ground, ascending them up onto the rooftops. Claire deftly floated from roof to roof, whereas Kang propelled himself with jets of fire and Khana acrobatically leapt across with them.

After leaping from the rooftops for several minutes, Kang pointed down to the ground, "Look over there!"

Claire and Khana looked down to see the red door they were told about, the Mad inventor then gestured towards the vent, but instead of just a hole in the wall like he remembered, a metal grate had covered it up, "Hold on, that shouldn't be there!"

His exclamation caught the attention of Claire and Khana, "Don't worry, I'll handle it," Claire reassured him with a smirk.

She latched onto the wall, digging her hands into the earth and climbing down to the vent, taking a deep breath before grasping the vent and squashing it in her hands, slowly lifting herself upwards, pulling the vent grate from the wall whilst keeping her feet latched onto it, her core straining as she threw the vent to Khana, who caught it and placed it down on the roof.

"Oh yeah, I forgot she could do that..." Kang commented, pausing for a moment, "Wait, I didn't even know she could do that!"

Kang realised he had never seen Claire metal-bend, as Khana looked at him with a surprised expression.

Claire pushed herself from the wall, deftly floating in the air before flowing into the vents.

Kang held his hand out to Khana, who quizzically grasped his hand as he pulled her into a cradled position, propelling himself over to the vent on jets of fire, allowing Khana to crawl in with Claire before following in behind.

The three crawled through the cramped, stuffy ventilation system whilst avoiding detection from Amon's followers still present in the hideout, as they came across two followers conversing to one another. Kang signalled for Claire and Khana to be quiet, eavesdropping on their conversation.

"So, are you going to be anywhere later tonight or tomorrow?" the follower asked.

"I didn't really have any plans. How about you?" the other follower asked.

"I was just thinking of going to the Tea Shop down at little Ba Sing Se, I heard they got a new Tea there, dedicated to the new Avatar or something."

"Oh yeah, White Emerald or something like that."

Claire grinned at the sound of a tea named after her whilst her friends shook their heads.

"Oh hey, speaking of the Avatar, The boss got out of Prison before The Police chief could root out all our guys."

"Really? Well good for us, we can finally get back to bringing about harmony and putting those thuggish benders in their place!"

"Yeah, although the ones a part of our cause are alright people."

The followers walked away to continue their conversation elsewhere whilst Claire, Kang and Khana all looked at one another and knew they needed to inform Lin.

"Who's going to go inform Lin?" Claire asked

"You'll need Kang's knowledge of the building, and your versatility should you run into trouble. I'll go," Khana replied.

"Move quickly!" Kang told her as Khana nodded, quickly climbing over Kang, before shuffling back through the vent as Kang curiously watched the Kyoshi Warrior.

"Does Khana have a secret third Dagger?" Kang asked.

Claire raised a befuddled eyebrow to her Mad Inventor friend, "Well, it would make sense... if she lost her others she'd have a backup!"

Kang silently thought to himself for a moment, "A bloody big back up."

The two continued further into the hideout, finally breaking into Amon's room. But no one was home and Kang began snooping through his stuff, finding a slender silver locked box, the Mad inventor heated a flame on the end of his finger like a blowtorch, burning off the lock and opening the box, discovering the blood-bending scrolls Amon mentioned, an odd amulet, and a Card with a woman within two circling black and white snakes, surrounded by a sea of gold stars with various items in the card's corner.

"These look old... I wonder how Yakone got his filthy hands on them," Kang said as he picked up the scrolls.

"Yakone? Is that Amon's actual name or something?" Claire asked as she began inspecting the scrolls.

"No, Yakone was a crime boss in the city... Until he got stripped of his bending by Avatar Aang, then to add insult to injury, Chief Beifong and Zu, squished him," Kang explained.

"Lin killed him?!" Claire whispered in shock.

"Not Lin; Toph. And yes! Like a bug. She said, 'he's too dangerous to be kept alive' then together, Zu and Toph squished him under a rock, much to Aang's dismay," Kang recollected the tale, smirking as he did.

"... Brutal," Claire replied, gazing into the open box and pulling out the odd amulet whilst Kang pulled out the Card.

"X I I 'The World'," Kang muttered as he gazed upon the card.

"Any idea what this thing is?" Claire asked as she observed it, tossing it between her hands.

"I've seen nothing like it or this card before... best not to mess around with them," Kang nervously told her as Claire clasped the amulet for a moment before both placing their items back in the box.

Before they could investigate further, Kang and Claire could hear a loud booming voice in the distance, and as they listened, they determined it was Amon, making Kang drop the blood-bending scrolls before he climbed back into the vent, and as Claire followed she looked down at the blood-bending scroll, picking it up and hiding it in her shirt, before propelling herself back into the vent with a gust of wind.

As she entered the vent, a perplexed Kang looked back at her, "I was letting you get a head start, I didn't want to be... too close."

Kang nodded and continued towards the sound of Amon's voice. His voice became more distinct until they looked through a ventilation grate, seeing him stood atop a pedestal, surrounded by hundreds of his followers.

"My followers! My people! Tonight is the night we take Republic City from our weak government! We shall take the city into our own hands! And with these hands: we shall forge a city of true Harmony! No longer shall our oppressors squash us!" Amon proclaimed as his fanatics cheered.

"Now I know you all know by now that I am myself a water-bender, but I pray that will not impede on our united goal!"

Charisma oozed from the masked man's voice as an odd presence spread out amongst his fanatics, the crowd cheering his name as they threw their fists in the air, praising him whilst Amon smiled under his mask.

"Then come, brothers and sisters! The full moon hangs high! And our time has arrived!" Amon's voice bellowed as a gate opened up before them, his followers aligned like a military parade, beginning their march out into the streets with Amon at the centre of them all.

Claire quickly punched through the top of the metal vents, forming a hole large enough for her and Kang to climb through, punching through a section of the earth to break out onto the roof of the building.

They looked down at Amon's army of fanatics. The sight of hundreds of fanatics marching together, their mighty stomps reverberating throughout the area in unison, instilled fear into the both of them.

"I need to go get help, Claire. Keep an eye on them and see where they're going!" Kang said as he began running toward the Derelict estate.

But as Claire watched him leave, she pulled out the blood-bending scroll from her shirt, " _It's a necessary evil..."_ the Avatar thought to herself, unravelling the scroll to practise the blood-bending forms, and as she browsed, she found an odd-looking page with cryptic symbols on it, showing the movements Amon used against his victims.


	12. Republic on the Brink

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amon's Cult and the un-manipulated masses clash, who will win in this battle for the city?

Khana reached Lin's office inside City Hall before Amon's Fanatical army reached the inner city, busting in through the door and scaring Ty Lee, "Khana?!" she exclaimed.

"Can't talk, busy!" Khana abruptly replied before sensing Lin to her right, quickly turning her head as she began sprinting down a corridor and barging through a metal door to see Lin at her desk.

The Police Chief perked her head up to see the out of breath Khana, and Ty Lee following shortly behind, "What are you doing here?"

"Amon's escaped!" Khana replied.

Lin let out a heavy sigh, "I know..."

"Then why are you just sat there?" The bemused Kyoshi Warrior asked as Lin looked her in the eye.

"We don't know where he is and we have no leads on his whereabouts," Lin replied, disappointment riddling through her voice.

"But Kang found his hideout, Claire and him are there right now!" Khana explained.

But before Lin could say another word, Hou walked through the door, "Uh, Lin. You might want to come see this..."

Hou exited, quickly pursued by Lin, Khana and Ty Lee, walking out of City hall to see Amon's army marching through the streets, Gao, Sheng and Jing stood there with them.

"What in the name of Avatar Kuruk is happening?!" Sheng exclaimed.

"I don't know... But where are they going?" Hou replied as the fanatics marched, one glancing over at Lin, the mask and black hood shaking the police chief to her core, and without hesitation, she rushed in, but Khana grabbed her by the arm.

"If you run in there on your own, they'll kill you!" Khana said as Hou walked over to Lin, "She's right, Lin!"

Lin slumped back. Her muscles tensing, "We need to get to wherever it is they're going, maybe then we can stop them!" Jing explained.

"I'm with Jing!" Ty Lee enthusiastically replied.

"I agree, let's follow them!" Gao replied.

Lin and Khana formed a staircase up to the roof for the governors, Ty Lee and themselves to run across.

Kang arrived back at the Derelict estate, scanning the area before he spotted the house with a green flag on its door, "Found it!"

The mad inventor raced over towards the house, barging through the door, but as he did several knives flew towards him as he quickly dropped to the floor, "I forgot about that..."

Zu ran out towards the door, looking down at Kang and breathing a sigh of relief, "Kang, you know you're supposed to knock."

"Sorry, Zu. It slipped my mind... we have an emergency," Kang nervously replied.

"I don't want to get involved in those riots, Kang!" Zu replied mildly annoyed as he began walking back into the room he came from.

"Oh no, this is much worse than the riots!" Kang urgently said.

Zu turned around, staring his friend in the goggles, "... two riots?"

Kang smacked his hand with his palm, letting his hand drop as he looked back at Zu, "No, Zu. Amon's rallied all his followers and is marching out into the city!"

Li jumped through the archway, "How many we talking?"

"Hundreds, he's got his own personal army!" Kang replied.

Zu and Li looked to each other, then back to Kang, "We'll have to gather our own army to combat him then," Zu replied as he cracked his knuckles.

"Good idea, but probably get a change of clothes first," Kang replied.

Zu looked down at his kimono as his beefy arms swayed out to the side, "Yeah, I don't think anyone will take me seriously in my house clothes."

"I'll go rally everyone else whilst you two get ready!" Kang replied as Zu and Li nodded.

Kang ran out of the door and into the estate, Zu then walked upstairs to get changed whilst Li followed Kang to help rally the other gangs in the area.

Claire remained on the rooftop for half an hour, getting a hang of blood-bending, and as she trained, a stray fanatic came running out from the gate.

"I already missed the march, I hope The Boss doesn't punish me!" the follower said to himself as Claire smirked, picking up the scroll and leaping from the rooftops landing in front of the follower.

The follower jumped back as Claire stood menacingly over him, "The Avatar!?"

He swallowed his fear, throwing a fist at Claire, but the Avatar outstretched her hands like a puppet-master, taking control of the fanatic and twisting him around, clutching his neck before placing her thumb on his forehead.

But the follower let off no response to Claire's actions, looking at the confused Avatar, and his surroundings, "... What are you doing?"

Claire continued trying to sever his bending, but nothing came of it, releasing her grip of the follower and restraining his arms in the earth, "Why didn't it work? I've practised the blood-bending forms and did exactly what Amon does... so why?"

"I don't think he does it with blood-bending..." The follower replied as he turned his head to Claire, catching her attention.

"... Now that you mention it, that doesn't make sense, does it?" Claire nonchalantly asked.

The follower nodded and shrugged, "Well yeah, how would it even work?"

Claire to shrugged, "Do you know how Amon does the thing?" she asked, mimicking Amon's moves.

"No one knows, not even his most trusted followers," The follower replied.

Claire let out a disgruntled sigh, "So uh, mind letting me out of these?" The follower politely asked.

Claire's eyebrows curiously raised as she considered the idea, "Sure."

Claire broke away the earthly binds before sprinting off into the night, leaving the follower in her dust.

Lin, Khana, Ty Lee and the governors arrived at the Police Station, seeing it in rubble and flames, the Fire Division of Amon's cult scorched the building, the Earth Division crushing it with boulders, and the Water Division healing the other two whilst the non-bending fanatics cheered them on, pumping their fists in the air with appraisal. Lin and Hou looked at the crumbling station, seeing the fires rage within it and the structure crumble to its foundations.

Lin's heart sank as Hou placed his hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry, Lin. If only we had been faster..."

Lin placed her hand atop Hou's as he looked to the wreckage, "It's okay... we can rebuild... once we're done with Amon!"

The fire and earth Divisions ceased their attack as Amon stood before his army, "This is but our first step to taking this city! With the Police no longer able to impede on our goals, we will be victorious!"

Amon's fanatics praised him as Claire arrived on scene atop the opposite rooftop her friends and allies stood on, seeing the destruction Amon's cult had rort.

The masked man himself looked up at Claire, smirking under his mask, "And here is the Avatar! Right on cue!"

Amon's followers looked up and see Claire standing over them, but before they could attack, three mobs of benders and non-benders alike marched towards Amon and his army from all sides.

Kang led the right mod whilst Li led the left mob, now switched to Kaz, an Air-Bender, and the central mob led by Zu, now dressed in a grey sleeveless partially ripped Gi with a black belt around his waist.

"Well, if it isn't, Amon! Public enemy number one!" Zu shouted to Amon.

But the masked Man simply chucked at him, "I was wondering when you'd show your face, Zu. Infamous crusher of Yakone!"

Amon's jest took aback Zu, but he stood tall against the masked fiend, "Attacking the police force was a big mistake, Amon, now it's time to pay the fine!"

Kang groaned at his pun as Amon shook his head, "After all these years and you still care about the Police Force?"

Amon mockingly gestured to the ruins behind him, "We do! Someone has to give us unorganized criminals a run for our money, it'd get boring otherwise!" Zu said as he looked up at Lin, winking at her, to which Lin let out a disgusted grunt.

"I believe we've spoken enough, Zu! Time to let our elements and fists do the talking!" Amon replied as he signalled for his followers to engage the mob.

Zu, Kaz and Kang signalled for their mobs to engage whilst Claire, Lin, Khana, Ty Lee and the Governors join the mob. The fight for Republic City had begun.

The Mob and Amon's army clashed, Chi-blockers and benders on both sides brutally attacked one another, showing no mercy to their opposing side as Zu smashed through Amon's fanatics, carving a path to the masked man, quickly joined by Kang and Kaz.

"What's our plan when we reach Amon," Kaz asked.

"Beat him senseless, usually works," Zu replied with a chuckle.

"I like that plan!" Kaz said as he pumped his fist.

"I don't think that'll work this time, Zu. Amon's a blood-bender," Kang explained.

The bemused Zu raised one of his fluffy eyebrows, "Well... I guess we better go all out, no holding back!" he egged Kang on whilst patting his shoulder.

"... Indeed" Kang replied, his nerves twitching as he listened to Zu.

Amongst the Mob, Lin and the Governors fought off Amon's army, Lin and Hou working alongside each other, utilising their earth-bending and metal-bending to its fullest extent, Gao and Sheng fought together, Sheng immobilising the targets with his Water-Bending as Gao scorched them with his fire-bending, whilst Jing and Ty Lee fought alongside one another.

Jing Used the fighting forms he learnt from Sokka and Suki, using the opponent's force against them, then strike mercilessly with his sword whilst Ty Lee followed up by blocking their Chi, and vice versa. Claire and Khana met up among the mob using Khana's power as an earth-bender, and Claire's versatility in the elements to make their way through the army to Amon, However, Zu, Kaz and Kang had already made it to him.

"Let's see just how good of a blood-bender you are, Amon!" Zu taunted him as he stomped the ground, bringing two boulders to his side, grasping ahold of them and throwing them at Amon.

But they phased through Amon, confusing all three of them as they crashed behind the masked man.

Amon raised a hand to Zu, egging him on to attack, Zu and Kaz ran in together, The Giant bringing Earth to his forearms: forming gauntlets of earth around them as he viciously swung at Amon whilst Kaz attacked with slashes and gusts of air, keeping up with him by using an Air Scooter he copied from Aang.

Both kept Amon on his toes whilst Kang supported them with streams of fire, but Amon avoided them effortlessly, weaving and phasing through their attacks, as he smirked under his mask, "Play time's over, boys!"

Amon punched and blasted the air out of Zu before bending the surrounding water to his will, and launching Zu away into the mob, before swiftly knocking Kaz into the Police station ruins, freezing him to the rubble and reverting him back to Li.

Amon cracked his neck before turning his attention towards the befuddled Kang, "We meet again, Kang."

Amon approached him, but the Mad inventor said nothing back, taking a deep breath, clearing his mind completely.

Kang stretched his left arm out to the side and arched it downwards, then to the opposite side, lightning coursing around his hands as the mad inventor drew his arm back to its original side, then repeating the same process with his other arm, finally bringing both his hands together in front of him.

The Mob and Fanatical army stopped fighting as they saw the lightning surge across the battlefield, standing in awe.

"Whoa..." Li gasped from his frozen position.

Amon looked around, seeing that the battle had silenced, _"He can still generate lightning? It matters not, I can deal with this easily," he_ thought to himself as he raised his arms to his side, taunting Kang, "Come! Strike me!"

Kang smiled, launching the Lightning towards Amon but to his shock, Amon pointed his hands towards the Lightning, catching it in his hands before bringing his hand down to his stomach, then lifting it up and out towards the sky, redirecting Kang's lightning into the clouds, dispelling the cloud cover above them and revealing the full moon.

"My followers! Strike down this mob with all your strength!" Amon shouted to his army of fanatics, causing them to become severely aggressive, inevitably beating down on the Mob. Amon's victory was on the horizon.

Wasting no time, Amon stretched his arms out like a puppet-master, forcing Kang's blood to drag him onto his knees, and despite the Mad inventor's resistance, he gave in, but to his surprise, Khana sprang into action attempting to strike down Amon, however, with a flick of his wrist, he took control of Khana and lowered her down behind Kang.

"Now... restrain your friend!" Amon demanded as he twisted Khana to his will, stringing her along to bend earth around Kang's wrists and ankles, leaving him unable to move, "Good Girl!"

Khana snarled as Amon strung her to his side. Kang fell to the ground, as Lin, Claire and the governors broke through the battle towards Amon, the masked man laughing as a sinister presence emitted from around him, the area around Amon and the others grew darker, a shadow casting over that area alone, and as it grew, a chill pierced through Claire and her allies.

Hou rushed over to Kang to break his restraints, but Kang shook his head, "Forget about me! Just take down Amon!"

"Right!" Hou replied, striking out his fist to earth-bend.

But nothing happened as Everyone gave Hou a quizzical stare, "Stop messing around, Hou!" Lin scolded him as she began to earth-bend.

But nothing happened once again.

Everyone nervously looked at themselves as Amon chuckled to himself, "This is the key to my victory!"

Amon took hold of Hou with his free hand before stringing Khana along to first restrain Him, then moving to Lin, and finally the Governors, all bound by seemingly unbreakable earth.

With Khana still bound to his will, Amon turned to Claire. She attempted to Fire-bend, but just like the others nothing happened, even Claire's other bending practises failed to work, "How!? How did you take our bending!?"

Claire's heart raced, her hands trembled, but Amon simply glared at her with a shadowy gaze, "You think I'm going to answer that?"

Amon's his grip relaxed as he laughed at Claire, but sensing his weakened grip, Khana swung her fist to Amon's mask, knocking him down to the ground, forcing him to drop the Kyoshi Warrior.

"Claire! Get out of here!" Khana shouted as she flipped herself back up.

But Claire gave her a quizzical stare, "I can't just leave you! We need to end this here and now!"

Khana withdrew her daggers from behind her hips, "No! Amon has an ability we've never encountered before! If you fall here, we'll never rise again! Now, do as I say, Avatar. Get out of here!"

Taken aback by Khana's words, the stubborn Avatar fled, but not before Amon took a hold of her blood, pulling on it as she fell.

The masked man puppeted her leg, slowly dragging her toward him, but with fury in her eyes, Khana threw one of her daggers towards Amon, impaling his arm and breaking his hold over Claire, "GO!" Khana shouted one last time.

Claire got back to her feet, quickly breaking through the battle, deftly avoiding the combatants and fleeing from the city.

Khana watched Claire flee to safety, sheathing her dagger behind her back and surrendering to Amon, who stood before her with her Dagger, twirling it in his hand.

Khana lowered her head, accepting what she thought was her fate, "I did my duty..."

But to her surprise, Amon used her earth-bending against her to bind her arms and ankles.

Amon's Army of fanatics had successfully beaten the mob into submission. Many members of the mob lay dead, others unconscious and a few surrendered, seeing their defeat.

Four of Amon's Fanatics lugged Zu's heavy unconscious body before Amon, and one dragged Li's body still trapped in ice before him, "These are the other leaders, Boss. What should we do with them?"

Amon observed them, humming before looking to the Police Station, "Carve a path into the Police Station and lock them up, along with the Ex-Police Chief, Kang, The Ex-Governors, this woman and..." Amon looked around, noticing a person was missing, "Wait... Where is that old Chi-Blocking woman?"

Amon and his followers scanned the battlefield, "seems she ran away, probably chased after the Avatar, Boss."

"Speaking of which, what should we do about her, Boss?"

Amon thought to himself, looking to the distance, "Leave her, there's no way she can stand up to us now."

Amon's victorious ego got the better of him whilst the Fanatics gave each other quizzical looks, "If you say so, Boss!"

The Fanatics carried Claire's allies into the Police Station, ready to lock them away.


	13. City of Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amon is victorious and now holds Republic City in his metal-clad grasp

The Night dawned on the North Pole whilst Norrak and Joseph lay atop their bed; the moonlight shining through their window as they thought of Claire and what it was like for her being the Avatar, but as they laid there, a faint ringing pierced Norrak's mind, sitting up as she pressed her hands against the temples of her head.

Joseph looked to her with concern, sitting up next to her and placing his hand gently onto her shoulder, "What's wrong, Norrak?"

Joseph's voice echoed with worry as his wife's eye's closed, the ringing dulling all other sounds, but as the ringing stopped her eyes reopened, and her fear escalated, "Claire's in distress!"

Norrak's sudden proclamation took aback Joseph as he quickly stood up from the bed, "Where's the lass at?"

Joseph quickly slipped his boots on whilst Norrak closed her eyes once more, "She's near... a city... in front of a lake."

Joseph slipped on a brown jacket and picked up what looked like a fluffy hat with long pieces of material draping to the sides, "Any idea where the City is?" he asked, as he put on his hat, and picked up his gloves.

"It's a long way to the south," Norrak replied.

"How long we talking? South Pole? Whale-tail Island? Earth Kingdom?" Joseph asked as he grasped a wool scarf.

"Earth Kingdom... in the United Republic, I think," Norrak replied.

Joseph made sure he had everything he needed, "I'll go let Chief Unalaq know and see if I cannae get an Airship."

Joseph waved goodbye to his wife before charging out of the room, "Be safe!" Norrak shouted to Joseph as he sprinted out the door.

Joseph ventured to Unalaq's fortress of ice, and upon approaching the gates, two guards raised their hands to the worried man, "Whoa there, Joseph. What brings you storming up here at this hour?"

"My Daughter, The Avatar, is in a spot of trouble and I need to petition Chief Unalaq for one of those Airships," Joseph quickly explained.

The guards look to one another, humming and ahhing, "Well... this isn't the first time he's done this."

"Good point..."

The guards returned their united attention to Joseph, gesturing their heads towards the entrance of Unalaq's Fortress.

"Thank ye, boys!" Joseph told them as he sprinted inside.

Joseph stormed into the fortress, finding Unalaq sat upon his throne, whilst a Mysterious man with long grey and black hair styled into a bushy ponytail with a short grey beard, and a scar on his left eyebrow stood before him.

Both turned their attention to Joseph, their glares piercing through him, "And here I thought the Radiant Emperor had a glare-" he muttered to himself as the two men resumed their meeting.

"I hope to hear from you soon, Unalaq," The mysterious man told him, taking his leave.

Unalaq nodded, turning his attention to Joseph, "Joseph... What brings you here in the middle of the night?"

The Chief's demeanour seemed much friendlier to Joseph than when he walked in, "Pardon the abrupt entry, Chief Unalaq, but Claire is in a wee spot of bother!"

Joseph's statement caught the Mysterious man's attention as he stood in the archway, listening in on the conversation.

Unalaq's eyes widened as he rested his head against his fist, "What makes you so sure?"

"Remember that time Norrak said both Claire and Talos got trapped in an ice gorge?" Joseph asked.

Unalaq gritted his teeth, and the Mysterious man smiled, "Yes... I do."

"She has this... odd connection with Claire where she's able to 'sense' whenever the lass is in great distress, and just now she said, quite loudly, that Claire's in need of help," Joseph explained.

Unalaq leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees, "And I assume you're here to ask for transportation to go help her?"

"You are correct, Sir!" Joseph enthusiastically replied.

A brief silence loomed as Unalaq glared to the Mysterious Man in the archway.

"Are you okay with me taking an Airship?" Joseph asked.

Unalaq let out a heavy sigh, sitting back up in his throne, "Just don't crash it!"

Unalaq threw a medallion with a water tribe insignia on it, "I'll do my best not to!" Joseph replied as he snatched the medallion out of the air and bowed to Unalaq.

"And Joseph, be careful," Unalaq told him, his tone riddled with little concern.

Joseph nodded, unsure by what he meant before. Joseph stormed out of the fortress, noticing the guards had left, looking around curiously, keeping up his guard as he ventured over to the air shipyard.

Seeing the airships lined up in the distance, Joseph rushed over, keeping an eye out for anyone suspicious, only for a draft of air to pull him back, dragging him through the snow as he tumbled through it.

The Mysterious man from earlier loomed over Joseph, reaching for him, but Claire's Father swiftly recovered, springing up on his hands and launching himself towards the Mysterious man, striking his jaw with his feet, smacking him into the air, "What are you doing?"

Joseph raised his fists as the mysterious man rolled his neck, "You're going to take me to the Avatar!"

The Mysterious man raised his palms to Joseph, confidently smirking as Joseph scoffed, "No."

Joseph raised his palms, emitting a blinding light and shocking the mysterious man. His vision blurred, trying to listen for Joseph's approach, but the wrappings of bright burning chains around his form, squeezing his body made his vision blur further.

Joseph released the light chains from his hand, letting them latch around the Mysterious man, "Those'll fade away after a few hours, perhaps in that time you'll learn a few manners."

Joseph raced over to the Airships, letting the guards know Unalaq had permitted him to use an airship and showing them the medallion. They let him through and wished him luck before he set off towards the United Republic.

Claire sat before a lake of water, looking out to Republic City. The ambience of bugs chirping and leaves rustling filled the area as the failure and disappointment weighed down on her.

The Avatar slowly dropping onto her back and looking to the night sky, lamenting on the battle against Amon as a disappointed Ty Lee blocked her view of the night sky, "Oh... hi, Ty Lee..."

Recent events made Claire utterly unconcerned by her presence whilst the old Kyoshi Warrior looked down at the Avatar, fists to her hips, "Why did you run?"

Claire let out a heavy sigh, "Khana told me to flee... somehow Amon took away our ability to bend. But we don't know how."

Claire's explanation took aback the Kyoshi Warrior as she sat next to her, "Can you bend now?"

Claire looked to the lake of water, stretching out her hand then flicking her wrist, causing a small stream of water to shoot out of the lake then flop back down, "Yep."

Claire went back to her slumped over sitting position, "Amon must have taken the city by now... and the bending of all my friends..."

Claire lowered her head as she disgustingly grunted at herself, "I screwed up..."

As the Avatar wallowed in her despair, Ty Lee sharply nudged Claire's shoulder, "We all screw up every now and again, just because you're the Avatar doesn't mean you're exempt from that."

"An Avatar should never screw up this badly, I let an entire city fall into the hands of a madman, and now there's nothing I can do to bring him down!" Claire angrily said, placing her hands to the sides of her head as she fell back to the ground.

"Whining about it won't get you anywhere, we need a plan!" Ty Lee sharply replied as she quickly stood up.

But before Claire could make up a response, she noticed a boat-shaped object with a blue shape above it flying in the sky, slowly getting closer. The curious Avatar stood up, still looking to the sky, catching Ty Lee's attention, seeing the air-ship touch the ground beside them.

Claire's father, now stripped of his fluffy hat and scarf, still adorned with his brown leather jacket, navy blue baggy pants and brown fluff lined boots, emerged from the airship, "Claire!" he called out.

"Dad!" Claire called back with a smile, immediately running towards him and hugging her father tightly.

"Who woulda thought, twenty years old and still greets me like this," Joseph jested as he hugged her back.

Ty Lee approached, mystified by her father's appearance, "How did your Dad find us?"

"Claire and her mother have a... special connection," Joseph replied as Ty Lee raised an eyebrow to his statement, brushing it off before Joseph turned his attention to Claire, looking to her with a concerned gaze.

"Now... what's put you into such distress, lassie?" Joseph asked.

Claire's posture slumped, looking away from him, "I... messed up. Badly."

Claire shook her head, but as she did, Joseph nudged her lightly, "Yer gonae need to give me more context than that."

"There's this man called Amon, at first we thought he was just a blood-bender with the ability to strip a person of their bending... but he's... something else, I don't know how to describe it," Claire replied, spiking Joseph's curiosity.

"Describe yer last encounter with him," Joseph firmly said as Claire took a deep breath.

"An odd... sinister aura came out of him darkening the area around us, and I could feel a chill inside me," Claire explained.

Joseph turned his gaze from the shook Claire and Perplexed Ty Lee, "A Shadow-Bender..."

Both Claire and Ty Lee sceptically look at each other before returning their attention to Joseph, "A What?" Ty Lee asked.

Joseph took a deep breath, turning his attention back to them, "Unlike yer Four Nations who have Fire, Air, Water and Earth, in my land of Aaravosia we only have two types of benders: Light-Benders, who bend the light in their environment and within themselves and Shadow-Benders, who bend the Shadows of any person or object."

Claire and Ty Lee wondrously looked at Joseph as he explained, "Are you... a Light-Bender?" Ty Lee asked.

Joseph smiled, facing the lake and bending the moonlight to his will, moving it around like a giant spotlight, stopping it around him, Claire and Ty Lee, "Yes, ye had better believe I am!"

Joseph illuminated Claire and Ty Lee's faces with wide grins, the two brimming with hope, "Do you think you could help us bring down Amon?" Claire eagerly asked.

Joseph smiled at her, "What kinda Dad would I be if I didn't, eh?"

"But I have to ask... what's the plan?"

Claire and Ty Lee walked towards Joseph, beginning to devise their plan.

Amon stood before the one hundred year war memorial, thunder rumbling and wind gusting past the masked man as he rested his a steely gaze upon the statue.

"Do you want us to bring it down, Boss?" The Fanatic asked as he approached, standing next to Amon.

The masked man let out a heavy sigh, "No... Without them, I never would have been able to rise to power as I have now. The Memorial will stay!"

The Fanatic nodded, returning to his patrol.

"You built this city intending to create harmony... But your successors forgot that sentiment... I did not," Amon said to the statues before venturing through the City Park.

Rain fell from the skies, dowsing the surrounding areas in puddles of water, but sensing its descent, Amon quickly used the rain to form an umbrella of ice, protecting him from the rain as he continued his walk. Several of Amon's followers and Fanatics greeted him on his walk whilst apprehending benders, who still tried to enforce their power and protecting non-bender businesses.

Amon looked around at his Republic City, content with his victory, despite something itching in the back of his mind, setting a new location in mind as he grasped a Crimson Rose from a florist shop, and before the florist could complain: one of Amon's followers flicked a gold piece into their palm.

Amon arrived at the graveyard within Republic City, Amon's followers patrolled the grounds as he observed the neatly aligned monolithic gravestones, names and elements adorned their stone structure, finding one with a recently placed white flower with a crimson centre laid atop it.

Amon lightly scoffed as he approached the gravestone taking in a deep breath, "I have to say I didn't expect Zu to go out of his way to murder you... but that gave me a stepping stone ascension... Oh, how I'd love to see the look on your face."

But In Amon's moment of pride, an odd sense of sorrow began seeping in, something cracking within his soul, "I suppose, in a sense, there are two people buried here..."

Amon paused for a moment before tossing the Crimson Rose towards the name carved into the tombstone, walking away towards the dilapidated Police Station.

The rain continued to fall but despite it, Amon's Fanatics still patrolled the streets, and as he reached the Police Station, he found several of his Earth Division erecting a memorial of their own.

"What's going on here?" Amon sceptically asked.

The followers perked up and stood before him, "We're... creating a memorial, Boss. In honour of those who fell during our taking of the city."

Amon smirked under his mask, "I would suggest building it within the Graveyard just that way. I intend to rebuild this Station one day and having a memorial in front of the entrance is a bit..."

Amon hummed to himself, trying to find the right word.

"Inconvenient?"

Amon snapped his metal gauntleted fingers, "Precisely, I don't mean to be rude."

The followers bowed their heads to him, "No worries, Boss. We'll move it to the Graveyard!"

The members of the Earth Division broke the memorial up from the floor, preparing to carry it to the Graveyard as Amon entered the Police Station, throwing away his ice umbrella as he strode through the ruined entrance of the Police Station, rubble still littered the floors, but regret did not pervade his mind as he ventured down into the Prison Cells that held Claire's captive allies.

"Here to grace the prisoners with your presence?" A Fanatic greeted him.

Amon nodded as the Fanatic to stepped aside, allowing Amon to venture into the dark depths of the prison, hearing the dripping of water and smelling the stench of death.

Kang, Zu, Li and Lin stood caged within one cell, The Governors in another and Khana alone in her own cell. They all glared at him except for Khana, who turned her back to him.

"Do you plan to keep us locked in here forever?" Lin spitefully asked.

But Amon remained silent as he intensely looking to all of them, "Perhaps... unless you help me get rid of those loose ends."

Amon approached the cells without caution, "Even with freedom on the line, we wouldn't help you!" Sheng adamantly said.

Kang looked to Amon, lunging forward and striking out his fist, but nothing happened, making Amon laugh at him, "Try to bend all you like, it's pointless!"

Kang continued trying to punch out fire, but nothing came of it, forcing a defeated sigh from the Mad Inventor.

"If you won't assist me in tracking down the Avatar and that woman, you will all rot away in there for the rest of your pitiful lives!" Amon explained as he twisted around and walked away from the cells.

Zu stood up and marched to the bars of their cell, grasping ahold of them as he tried to pry them apart, but just like Kang's Fire-bending, nothing happened, even resorting to brute Strength wouldn't budge the bars.

The Giant let out a sharp gasp as he stumbled backwards, "How has he taken our bending away?"

Zu punched the bars out of frustration, trying to break out, but despite his pounding, nothing happened.

"Whatever he did when we all stood against him, he must have done to these cells... either that or he's severed our bending permanently..." Hou replied from his cell.

"Our only hope is Claire returning with help... otherwise we're stuck here," Kang said aloud as he slumped down in his seated position.

"You know, 'The Avatar who fled' being our only hope doesn't exactly instil me with any," Jing replied from his cell.

Khana silently clenched her fist.

"Are we forgetting your, definitely not, Girlfriend also ran away?" Kang argued.

Khana gritted her teeth.

Jing stood up and faced the wall which separated him and Kang, "That is irrelevant to The Avatar fleeing during the battle!"

Kang scoffed, whilst Khana glared at the wall which separated them, "Claire will come back, I doubt she'll just allow us to waste away here!"

"Stop arguing! It won't get us anywhere! Whilst we're trapped in here, we should at least try to get along," Gao tried to break up the fight.

Both Kang and Jing scoffed before sitting back down.

"I did my duty... Whatever happens next... I won't have any regrets..." Khana said to herself, lowering her head, dismay weighing down upon her.

Amon returned to City Hall, venturing inside to see his Fanatics had replaced the Governor's stand with an eccentric black and grey throne.

Amon smiled under his mask as he approached his fanatics, "A Throne fit for the ruler of this city!" Amon told his fanatics.

Amon's compliments sent pleased looks over their faces, "Have you thought of a title, Boss? We'll be beginning your coronation this evening."

"I've been thinking... Shadow Lord Amon!" Amon said in a proud, mighty voice.

But the fanatic nervously cleared his throat, "I think the title... 'Shadow Lord' is already taken, Boss..."

Amon slumped in his posture, beginning to thinking of a new title, "Lord of Shadow's Amon...?"

"I think that one's taken too, Boss."

"Let's just go with Lord Amon, it's simple and not a mouthful," Amon disappointingly replied as the Fanatics nodded, leaving to plan Amon's coronation.

The masked man stood before his to-be throne, letting out a satisfied chuckle, "The City will officially be mine in due time..."

Amon turned his gaze to the doors of City hall, "but the more I think about it, the more The Avatar still being out there... irks me."

At the edge of the city: Claire, Joseph and Ty Lee hid along the perimeter of the city, watching the rainfall as Amon's Fanatics continued their patrol of the streets, eyes covered the entire city, and there was no way to get in without being noticed.

"How do we get in?" Claire asked, looking to her father, hoping he had a trick up his sleeve.

"I can bend the surrounding Light around us, make us invisible to the naked eye," Joseph replied.

Claire and Ty Lee curiously looked at one another, "How does that work?" Ty Lee asked, the two ladies looking back to Joseph.

The three sat behind a bush away from prying eyes, "As I said, as a Light-Bender, I can bend light around us, and with this nifty trick, we'll cast no shadows, and produce no reflections, although it can be draining if I do it for too long a time."

"How long do we have?" Claire asked, wondering whether Joseph could make it.

"At least an hour, so we cannae be loitering," Joseph firmly replied.

"Where would Amon hold our friends?" Ty Lee asked.

Claire thought to herself for a moment, "We were outside the Police Station during the battle... in terms of convenience, they might be in the Prison Cells beneath the Police Station."

"Do you think we can get there within one hour?" Joseph hesitantly asked.

Claire nodded, "As long as we don't waste time, we'll be able to get there!" Claire replied.

Joseph stood up, followed by Claire and Ty Lee, "Then its decided, onward to the City of Shadows!" Joseph said, pumping his fist out to the city.

But as he audaciously posed, a magazine slipped out from under his jacket, catching the attention of Claire and Ty Lee, "What's this?" The Curious Avatar asked.

Claire picked up the magazine, squinting at the title along with Ty Lee whilst her Dad stood utterly petrified, "'The Koala Sheep's eye'," Claire read as Joseph audibly gasped.

A painting of a Scantily Clad woman adorned the Magazine's cover with the title popping out to the reader's eyes.

Joseph twirled around, watching Claire open the magazine, "Ach, Crivens! Where did that come from?"

"Oh my," Claire muttered.

But despite the Avatar's surprise, Ty Lee slowly nodded, "Huh, I think I did some modelling for these guys back in my younger years."

Claire's eyes darted between Ty Lee, the blushing Joseph and the magazine until she affixed her glare on her father, "Why did this fall out of your jacket? Why do you even own this!?"

Joseph stammered, quickly turning away, confidently crossing his arms and clearing his throat, "Don't be mistaken, lassie. I only read them for the articles!"

Claire and Ty Lee flipped through the pages once more, seeing some pages had been cleanly sliced out, "THERE AREN'T ANY ARTICLES IN HERE!"

Joseph's eyes widened, his throat choking as his face flushed red.

"Mr. Light-bender, I believe we've caught you red-handed!" Ty Lee proclaimed as she pointed to Joseph, "And evidently, red-faced."

Joseph slowly twisted around to his scowling daughter and the giggling Kyoshi Warrior, "Please don't tell your mother."

Claire mulled it over for a moment as Ty Lee leaned in, "In all fairness, he has great taste in women."

"DON'T ENCOURAGE HIM!"

Claire groaned, handing her Dad his girly magazine, "Okay, I'll keep it secret, just don't drop it again."

Joseph heartily snatched the magazine as he smiled, "Ah, yer a star, lassie! Now, let's go teach that good-for-nothin' shadow-bender what for!"

Joseph stretched his arms out to the side, swishing them around his body as the surrounding light bent around them, their vision becoming hazy before righting itself.

"And one thing ye should know. They cannae see us, but can hear us. So we best to be as quiet as possible," Joseph explained.

Claire and Ty Lee nodded in agreement, beginning their venture into The City of Shadows.


	14. Rescuing Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire, Joseph and Ty Lee sneak into the City of Shadows to save their captured friends

The three walked through the streets of Amon's Republic City, remaining as stealthy as rain fell all around them, the scent of it filling the air.

Several of Amon's Fanatics looked in their direction, not seeing them but knowing something was off, "Does the rain over there look a bit... funny?"

"Yeah... kinda like it's... disappearing before hitting the ground..."

Their conversation reached Claire's ears as she tugged on Joseph's arm, "I think they're onto us!"

Joseph thought to himself as Ty Lee raised her hand, "You could try water-bending the surrounding rain."

But Joseph shook his head, "If she does, they'll notice us right away... our best option is to just keep going."

The trio marched further into The City of Shadows whilst The Fanatics continued watching the anomaly in the rain before looking back to one another, "It's been a long day, perhaps we're just seeing things."

"Yeah probably... Do you think we should report this to the Boss?"

"No, he'd be pretty annoyed if we told him and it turned out to be nothing."

"Eh, good point..."

The fanatics went on their way.

The trio arrived outside the Police Station, cautiously venturing in whilst Joseph kept up the invisibility, sneaking past several Fanatic guards and down into the Prison Cells, "Are you sure yer friends are here, lassie?"

"I can't think of anywhere else he'd keep them," Claire replied.

The three returned to investigating the Prison Cells, venturing in as a man reciting a song to himself hit their ears, becoming more distinct the further they delved.

"Twenty-Nine Bottles of Wine on the wall. Twenty-Nine Bottles of Wine. Take one down, chug it all down. Twenty-Eight Bottles of wine on the wall!" Zu sang to himself whilst everyone else kept to themselves.

"Isn't it supposed to be 'pass it around'?" Lin asked.

But The Giant let out a loud laugh at her question, "You might be Chief Beifong, but I only share my wine with _the_ Chief!!"

Lin raised a curious eyebrow as she looked to both Kang and Li, "He's referring to Toph," Kang explained.

"Yeah," Li confirmed.

Lin lightly scoffed, detecting the approach of three people but not seeing anyone, raising an uneasy eyebrow to the approaching presence.

"Over there!" Claire whispered.

Khana's head perked up at the sound of the Avatar's voice.

The trio stood before Claire's imprisoned allies, still invisible to them before Joseph dispelled the invisibility, all turning their attention to the unveiling three.

"Avatar!" The Governors exclaimed.

But Claire quickly signalled them to keep it down.

Unfortunately, one fanatic heard their exclamation, turning his head to another Fanatic, "I think someone's sneaking around down there, go check it out."

Claire's friends and allies jumped to their feet in joy seeing Claire had returned.

But the sight of just Joseph and Ty Lee with her dimmed their newfound hope, "I know you were gone for a day, Avatar... but a buff man and Ty Lee are all you brought?" Jing asked, bringing gloom to everyone else.

"Hey, I'm more than just 'a buff man', ye twinky blighter."

Jing quizzically shook his head before brushing off the subject, intending to explain more pressing matters to Claire, "Although we appreciate you coming for us, we're just dead-weight now."

Claire raised a befuddled eyebrow to his statement, "What makes you say that? You're a skilled Swordsman and Fansman."

Zu let out a laugh as he poised his fists to his hips, "'Fansman' Why did I never think of that?"

Claire told him to shush once more.

"Avatar, whatever Amon does to take away bending, he's done it to us. They are no longer benders, and I can't wield my fan and sword properly anymore..." Jing explained, letting out a disheartened sigh.

"Who are you three!?" A fanatic guard asked as Joseph swiftly turned around, unleashing chains of light and wrapping the Fanatic up before viciously pulling him over.

The fanatic soared over to Joseph as the Light-Bender snatched him out of the air, placing his thumb to the Fanatics forehead as he spaced out within Joseph's grip.

"Ye never saw us," Joseph firmly said.

"I never saw you."

"Ye gonnae tell your fellows ye saw nothing down here."

"I will tell my fellows I saw nothing down here."

Joseph released his hold, the Fanatic slumping to the ground as he strode out of the cells like a zombie.

"... What was that?" Ty Lee cautiously asked.

"A little Light-Bender mind trick..."

Joseph cleared his throat, approaching Claire's allies, "Did this... Amon touch yer Wills of Light and Sound?"

"Our what?" Lin asked with a shrug.

"Oh... that's right, ye call them Chakras here, don't ye?" Joseph replied, "Did Amon touch yer Light and Sound Chakras?"

"Do you mean our throats and foreheads?" Kang asked as he gestured to each, not entirely sure what Chakras were.

"Yes! Did he use his abilities against ye in that way?" Joseph asked once more.

Everyone looked around, all shaking their heads to one another, "No, he hasn't..." Lin replied

"Ah! Good, that means his Shadow-Bending is only affecting the cells!"

"Everyone, shield yer eyes!" Joseph said as he outstretched his hand.

A ball of dazzling light emitted from his hand, placing his other hand to the side of it then pulling it back towards the side of his face. Everyone blocked their eyes aside from Kang, who observed the light and Joseph with great intrigue.

A faint hissing reverberated, the Light shining ever brighter, extinguishing the looming shadow around the cells, "Try to bend now," Joseph said.

Whilst everyone adjusted their eyes, Kang unleashed a blast of fire through the bars, smiling with delight as Zu and Lin looked to each other prying the bars apart with an eager smile, freeing themselves, Kang, Li, then The Governors and Khana.

"Now probably isn't the best time to ask, but... what was all that?" Hou asked.

"That was Light-Bending, It's a foreign bending style."

Joseph's words piqued Kang's interest as he thought to himself, "Does that mean Amon is a Shadow-Bender like you briefly mentioned?"

"He is. His Shadow-Bending is how he made you think you couldn't bend."

"Wait, 'Make us think'? What are you implying?" Gao asked.

"Shadow-Benders have an ability called 'The Shadow of doubt', it tricks yer mind and body into thinking ye cannae bend like he did here. Although that is only temporary, it's Permanent if he instils the shadow of doubt directly by striking the Light and Sound Wil- Chakras."

"So that's what he meant by the foreign power being the key to his victory," Kang replied.

"What do we do now?" Li asked, hoping Claire, Ty Lee and Joseph planned passed this point.

"We need to take the city back from Amon, but first we need to bring down his Fanatics," Claire explained

"Kang, Zu, Li, and Lin: I want you to take out the Fanatics on the east side of the city, and Governors I want you to take them out on the west side of the city," Claire commanded.

"And what will you and the others do?" Gao asked.

"Khana, Ty Lee, my dad and myself will carve a path to Amon. Once you've cleared your sides of the city, meet up with us outside City hall."

"As you wish, Avatar!" Gao replied, bowing before leading the Governors out of the prison cells. The other Governors bowed, taking their leave with Gao.

Kang placed his hand on Claire's shoulder, "Good Luck, Claire!"

Claire placed her hand on his forearm, "Same to you, Kang!"

Lin, Zu and Li followed Kang out of the Prison Cells.

Khana slowly approached Claire, remaining silent before her.

"Are you okay, Khana?" Claire asked, looking to the dismal Kyoshi Warrior with concern.

Khana took a deep breath, gazing into Claire's eyes, "It's good to see you're safe..."

A brief smile came over her face as Claire extended her arms out to Khana, however, her gesture made the Kyoshi warrior uneasy, not sure what to make of Claire's gesture as Ty Lee leaned in towards Khana, "It's a hug, silly."

Khana blushed, going into hug Claire, the two holding one another gently, "I won't run this time..." Claire said.

Khana smiled, shedding a tear as their embrace tightened, "We know what we're up against this time, and with your father here. I'm sure we'll be victorious!"

Khana and Claire released their hug, "Yeah, Let's get going. We have a Masked Mad Man to bring down!" Claire enthusiastically replied, leading Ty Lee, Joseph and Khana out of the Prison Cells.

Kang, Li, Zu and Lin stealthily moved around the eastern side of the city, avoiding detection from Amon's Fanatics whilst simultaneously knocking them out and dragging them into alleyways, slowly making their way towards City Park.

Zu observed the park from afar, letting out a disgruntled sigh as he ducked back behind their cover, "Too many Fanatics, not enough cover."

They all dropped their heads, beginning to think, "I've got an idea!" Kang exclaimed.

Everyone turned their gaze to him, "Zu, Lin, you form a rocky structure around all of us, then we walk into City Park and take everyone out!"

"Won't we be... obvious?" Zu asked, raising an eyebrow.

"And wouldn't it be better for me to get Kaz to just bend the air out of the surrounding area and suffocate all of them?" Li asked whilst everyone stared at him with mild horror.

"We're trying to knock them out, not kill them!" Kang replied as Li scrunched up slightly, "It's also surprising how easily people will disregard a rock."

"But how will we get there unseen?" Lin asked, crossing her arms.

"You can use Seismic Sense, right? Use that to keep an 'eye' on them," Kang explained.

"This might work, but I prefer my plan!"

"If we get caught... it'll be quite the battle," Lin warned them as the four moved towards City Park.

Zu and Lin formed a rocky structure around themselves as they scurried their way across to City Park, dropping the rock structure onto the ground whenever Lin could sense a Fanatic looking to them, placing themselves next to the entrance inside City Park.

Lin began looking around for Amon's Fanatics, "There's two just ahead!"

Lin and Zu slowly sneaked up behind them, keeping the rocky structure around them as they gently placed themselves down.

But before they could strike, one fanatic noticed the rock, "Where did this Rock come from?"

The Fanatic who stood with him turned to the rock, "It was probably there when we got here and we just didn't notice."

"No, no, this was definitely not here when we arrived!"

But before their conversation could continue, Zu grasped them both by their legs, dragging them in.

"Hello There," Kang said as his Giant friend knocked them both out with his massive fists.

"What do we do with them?" Li whispered.

Zu bent the ground beneath the Fanatics, dropping the two in neck-deep and sealing their bodies within the earth.

Lin continued sensing for Fanatics, repeating the same process of sneak attacks until they had cleaned the entirety of City Park.

"City Park's clear... where are we going next?" Lin asked them.

"The only other major district on the east side is the Graveyard," Kang explained.

"Graveyard it is..." Li said, a brief silence coming over the team, "can we lose the rock now?"

Zu nodded his head, throwing the rocky cover away as the four made way to the Graveyard, subduing all Fanatics they met on their way.

The chilling silence of the Graveyard loomed as several fanatics patrolled the Graveyard.

Li carefully observed the Graveyard, studying the gravestones and Fanatic positions, "Plenty of cover, but not enough room to move around..."

But despite Li's warning, Zu raised his hand, before scooping up three stones in his hand, placing one on top of his thumb in a coin-flipping posture.

With a mighty flick of the Giant's thumb, the stone pinged out towards one of Amon's Fanatics, striking them in the temple of their head, knocking them out, as the stone ricocheted, but Zu bent the stone around, aiming it toward another Fanatic, and then another, and another, until they were all knocked unconscious, amazing the three bystanders as Zu proudly smirked.

"That didn't look like one of mother's tricks. Where did you learn that?" Lin asked.

But Zu simply smiled at her, "Usually earth-benders thinking is looked down upon, but sometimes using the mind is a good thing."

Zu entered the graveyard, leaving the perplexed Lin behind him, "... That did not answer my question!"

Lin watched Zu walk away, but Kang cleared his throat, catching her attention, "What he meant was: 'I thought of it just now'."

Lin looked to Li for confirmation, watching him nod in response.

The three followed Zu into the Graveyard as he searched for stragglers, returning to Lin and Li, "No followers left! I guess we should start making way to City Hall!"

But as he spoke, he noticed Kang's absence, looking around and spying him knelt in front of a Gravestone, "Are you okay, Kang?" Lin called out.

But Kang remained silent for a moment as he worryingly picked up the Crimson Rose, "What's this doing here?"

"It's a flower, lots of people give flowers to dead loved ones," Li tried to reassure him as the three approached.

Zu and Li stood by his side whilst Lin positioned herself behind the gravestone, watching the mad inventor gently clutch the rose, "I know that, but look at who's grave it was on!"

Kang pointed to the gravestone, Zu, Li and Lin looked at the name on the gravestone, "Eamon... But who would give a rose to Eamon's grave?" Zu asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah... he died for over two decades ago, and we were his only friends..." Li said.

Lin continued observing the gravestone, trying to remember their friend, "Eamon... he was the guy obsessed with maintaining harmony in the City, wasn't he?"

"Yeah..." Zu replied, twigging what Lin might be getting at, widening his eyes in the process, "Are you implying what I think you are, Lin?"

"Think about it before you rush to conclusions. Eamon obsessed over maintaining Harmony in the City. Just like Amon!" Lin explained.

"Lots of people want Harmony. How does that mean he's Amon?!" Zu argued.

Lin took a deep breath, "Amon appeared out of nowhere two years ago. Perhaps Eamon ventured off to the land Claire's father is from to learn this... Shadow-Bending."

"In a way... she might be right," Kang replied, shocking Zu as Li looked to them both curiously.

"Don't tell me you're just siding with her because you like her Kang!" Zu exclaimed.

But Kang shook his head, "No Zu, Amon knows us by name, among other things."

But Zu scoffed, "Well, of course, he'd know us. We killed Yakone!"

Lin cleared her throat, "Just look at the name, Zu!"

Lin covered the first symbol of Eamon's name, "Don't you think their names being similar is odd?"

But despite the evidence building against him, Zu shook his head, letting out a mocking chuckle whilst Kang and Li sceptically looked at each other, "Similar names or not, Lin. Eamon is dead, buried right here!"

Lin rooted her foot in the ground, scanning the coffin beneath them, seeing crushed bones and a tatty suit, widening her eyes, "Tell me."

Lin abruptly pushed the ground beneath them aside before shoving the coffin to the surface, kicking open the coffin. Zu, Li and Kang looked on in horror at the shattered bones and ruined suit, "Was your friend Eamon crushed by a rock when he died!?"

Zu, Li and Kang gazed at the remains, recognising the suit, "That's... Yakone!" Zu exclaimed, his heart racing.

"Exactly, Eamon must have swapped out his body with the remains before they could bury him."

"Eamon faked his death... but why, why would he do that?!" Kang frantically asked.

Zu's body shook all over whilst he gazed down at the remains, "The better question is how? Yakone stopped his heart!"

"Perhaps he saw you three as obstacles impeding his mission to bring Harmony to the city..." Lin sombrely explained.

The boys calmed, slumping down to the ground as they gazed at the coffin, "What do we do about him now? We can't just... kill him!" Kang asked as he held his head.

But Zu stood up tall, taking in a deep breath, "Think about it this way, Kang. The Eamon we knew is long gone. Amon is just his husk!"

Li stood beside Zu, shortly followed by Lin, "He's right, Kang..." Li said as he offered a hand to Kang.

The Mad Inventor accepted it, Li pulled him off the ground as Kang took a deep breath, "Let's go put Eamon to rest properly this time..."

The Boys and Lin marched from the graveyard with sombre determination, setting their sights on City Hall.


	15. The Past's Shadow Looms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Final battle against Amon begins, but who will be the victor?

Claire, Joseph, Khana and Ty Lee ventured forth towards City Hall, the rain ceasing its fall since their departure from the Police Station.

"How do we plan to defeat Amon?" Khana asked, hoping Joseph knew.

"Depending on how far his Shadowy influence has spread, we may needa slay him," Joseph informed her.

"Is there any special way to kill a Shadow-Bender?" Claire asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That would depend on how well of a master he is, Slaying regular Shadow elves is simple, but you need to overwhelm the Masters of the art with light. Any form of Light will suffice."

The three ladies quizzically looking to one another, "... What are Elves?" Ty Lee asked as the three turned their curious attention to Joseph.

"You know, Elves. They're like humans but short, slender, have pointy ears and legs like a deer..."

The ladies looked to one another with confused, slanted gazes.

"Ye don't have Elves here, do ye?" Joseph asked.

"No, not as far as I'm aware," Ty Lee replied.

Joseph brushed off the subject, continuing their route to City Hall whilst preparations for Amon's Coronation as Lord of Republic City had begun.

A massive crowd of remaining Fanatics and Citizens stood before Amon, chatter filling the air as he stood atop a large podium, looking down at the crowd with a silent gaze.

A robed fanatic approached the masked man with a circlet crown, "We are gathered here on this day to bear witness to the coronation of our Leader and Saviour, Amon!" he preached to the audience, "He is Amon the Liberator, Amon the Equalizer, Amon the Ever Great. And he shall be our Lord from this day forth!"

"Would you like to address the crowd, Boss?" he whispered.

The masked man nodded. The Robed Fanatic backed away with the crown as Amon approached the crowd, "My followers! My People! I am honoured to have finally brought harmony to this city once more! No longer will weaklings who allow such vile acts of chaos and imbalance to occur in this city govern us. I promise you: I shall rule with a Just Iron Fist!"

A Shadow began emitting from him, flowing into the Audience, throwing the crowd burst into an enthusiastic appraisal of Amon, "Non-benders rejoice! I had a dream when I came to this city! That one day you would all be able to rise from the fear and poverty the vile scourges of this city put you in!"

"No longer will they will trample you! No loner will villains restrict your lives! You. Are. Free!"

The crowd erupted into an uproar of gratitude towards Amon as Claire, Joseph, Ty Lee and Khana arrived at the Coronation, seeing the people flailing in approval, "Definitely Shadow-Bender work. No one gets this much approval naturally." Joseph explained.

"He's manipulated an entire crowd into loving him?" Khana asked, somewhat disturbed by the thought.

"Yes..." Joseph replied, forming a ball of light in his palm, "But I can quickly fix that!"

Joseph threw the sphere of light at the crowd, unleashing a blinding light, showering the crowd like snowfall in winter.

Everyone including Amon and his robed Fanatic shielded their eyes, "What's going on?!" Amon demanded to know.

The light dimmed, confusing the crowd of citizens and followers as they looked around at one another whilst the girls looked to Joseph with questions running through their minds.

"Purifying light! Removes all Shadow-Bender manipulation... And erases the memory of it."

Claire approached the crowd, "Can everyone please disperse! This is Avatar business!"

Many people gawked and gasped at Claire as they began making way for her and her allies whilst Amon groaned, "Of course, the moment I have them eating out of the palm of my hand! You show up!"

Claire confidently smiled as she punched her palm, "I didn't want to be late for the coronation party!"

Despite her sarcastic japes, Amon scoffed, "Has the cowardly Avatar come back to fight? Thinking she can touch the power I possess?"

"Talking about your power makes it sound like you're compensating for something!"

Joseph, Khana, and Ty Lee approached Claire, standing by her side whilst Amon fixed his gaze unto Joseph, "You found A Light-Bender! How Clever of you!"

Amon sarcastically applauded them before leaping down to their height, standing tall before them with a steely gaze.

"You're... human?" Joseph asked as he observed Amon in surprise, to which the masked man nodded.

"So he's not an elf... what's so surprising??" Khana asked.

"Human Shadow-Benders donnae exist, they're a myth because only the truly foolish or truly desperate endure the trials to become one!" Joseph explained as he looked at Amon, dread crawling over him, "For a human to become a Shadow-Bender, the Shadow elves break them, every ounce of humanity stripped away so that they can reforge them into a Shadow-Bender..."

"After the trials are done, the human is a husk of their former self, and as a morbid way of jump-starting them, they brand a mask onto their face, sealing off the last part that made them human."

Amon chuckled, slowly approaching them, "All correct, Light-Bender. I endured those trials so that I can truly make a difference in this world! Starting with this city, and neither you nor your allies will stand in my path!"

Amon outstretched his hands, pulling the shadows of Claire, Khana and Ty Lee out from under them and forging them into Shadowy beings to fight by his side, "I thought I'd even the odds!"

The Shadows engaged the four, striking at them mercilessly.

Claire fought against Khana's Shadow, unsure what to do about it, "We won't hurt one another if we attack the Shadows, right?"

"No!" Joseph shouted.

"Excellent!" Claire replied as she unleashed a blaze of flame towards Khana's shadow, annihilating it.

Ty Lee kicked Claire's Shadow in half whilst Khana crushed Ty Lee's shadow under a boulder, but Amon looked on at the battle, smiling behind his mask as the four stood seemingly victorious before the masked man.

But the Shadows began reforming before them, doubling up, and without thinking, Claire blasted them all with a blaze of powerful fire, destroying them instantly.

"Claire... that was a bad idea," Joseph told her. The Avatar bewilderingly looked at him before seeing the Shadows reform their numbers doubling again, "Every time ye destroy one, two more take its place!"

The Shadows began attacking relentlessly against them, "How do we fight it?!" Ty Lee asked as she fought against the merciless shadows.

"Ideally, we don't!" Joseph explained as he tried to bind the shadows in Light.

"Should we use _that_ technique, dad?" Claire cried out as she dodged the shadow's barrage.

"Ye've already used it once, Lassie!"

The four came back-to-back.

"Surely you have some Light-Bending trick to deal with this!?" Khana asked, poised to strike the oncoming shadows.

"I do, but it'll only keep them down for a few minutes!"

Joseph conjured a sphere of brilliant light in his hands, The ladies protecting him as he formed the light, trying their utmost to survive, "Shield yer eyes, lassies!"

Joseph slammed the light onto the ground, the Shadows hissing before being erased.

Silence loomed over the battlefield as the four stood before Amon, watching him crack his neck and loosen his muscles before raising a hand to them, egging them on to strike.

Claire bent the water from the ground into a whip, striking towards Amon whilst Khana with blades drawn and Ty Lee with fists at the ready charged him.

Amon latched onto the Water Whip, pulling Claire into him and viciously striking her face with his knees before swiping her towards Ty Lee, knocking away the old Kyoshi Warrior.

Khana reached Amon, mercilessly striking with her daggers, but Amon deflected her attacks with his metal Gauntlets, forming a shadowy blade in his hand, fighting back against Khana, the sheer force of colliding blades pushing Khana back, but Joseph unleashed a powerful ray of light, vaporising the Shadow blade as it loomed over Khana.

With Amon off guard, Khana kicked the masked man's mask, knocking him back as she spun around and kicked up a large boulder at him, smashing him into the podium.

Joseph entangled Amon in Light bindings whilst Claire and Ty Lee rushed in, all four facing the bound Amon with their fists at the ready.

"We needa finish him, now!" Joseph said as Claire stood before Amon, preparing her Fire-Bending to burn him to ashes.

But as she raised her hand, a shadowy tendril latched onto it, then another weaved around her body and restrained her arms and legs, "Claire!" Joseph cried out as he formed a sphere of light, only for a Shadow Tendril to catch him, as well as restraining Khana and Ty Lee.

The light bindings faded, freeing Amon, "Foolishness, Avatar! Forgetting your father's warnings so quickly. To think the Avatar Spirit picked you to bring balance to the world."

Claire raged against the Shadowy binds, her heart racing as the shadows crushed her body, her eyes glowing, but Amon simply glared down at her, raising his hand to her and clenching his fist, the Shadowy binds tightening around Claire, forcing her to descend from the Avatar State.

"The Avatar State cannot save you now, nor can your friends..." Amon said as he bent the Shadows around the four and carried them into City Hall.

Amon attached them all to individual pillars, leaving them to hang as he sat upon his throne.

Kang, Lin, Zu and Li exited the Graveyard, seeing hordes of people coming from City Hall, curiously looking around at the people, "What's going on?" Lin asked as she observed the people.

Zu, however, approached a group directly, "Pardon me, but could you perhaps tell us where all these people are coming from?"

The women of the group blushed at Zu's politeness before one cleared their throat, "There was this... event, some masked guy stood on a podium and then the Avatar showed up and told us to leave."

Zu quickly rushed back over to Lin, Li and Kang, "Avatar's fighting, Eamon! We need to get moving quickly!"

The four ran towards City Hall, using the hordes as a guide towards it, but upon arriving outside City hall, they saw the podium, but no signs of Claire or Amon, sending a chill down their spines.

"You don't think they're... dead, do you? Or banished to some kind of Shadow Realm?" Zu nervously asked.

"Don't be silly, Zu! The Shadow Realm isn't real," Kang nonchalantly replied, as he looked around for Claire and the others.

"He raises a good point, though. I wouldn't picture Amon as a person to run or take the fight elsewhere..." Lin argued.

Li's eye twitched, kneeling to the ground and studying it as he raised his gaze towards City Hall, "He's inside City Hall!" he told them in a nervous tone: changing into Gai, a Nervous Earth-Bender.

"How do you know?" Kang asked.

"There's this ominous presence coming from it, an Amoninous presence if you will!" Gai said, smiling at his pun as the others briefly exhaled through their noses.

Sweat broke out over the Nervous Earth-Bender's head, "Alright, that was a good one, Gai," Zu said as Gai lightly pumped his fist.

The four marched confidently towards the entrance of City Hall, "No turning back now. We go in... and we finish the fight!" Kang confidently said, letting out a heavy sigh as they ascended the stairs. Gai pulled out the stick, whispering into it as he changed back to Li.

Lin kicked open the door, the four marching into the sinister ambience of Amon's throne room, seeing Claire, Khana, Joseph and Ty Lee unconscious and restrained on the pillars by circling shadows.

Amon perked up from his throne, looking to his unannounced visitors, "Eamon!" Kang shouted.

Kang's exclamation took aback Amon, the now angered masked man silently standing up before them, "I haven't heard that name in over two decades. And you have the gall to shout it to my face... Kang?"

"Yes, I do!" Kang defiantly replied as Zu, Lin and Li stood tall beside the mad inventor.

"All I want to know is why Eamon. Why did you... turn into this?" Zu sombrely asked.

"I wanted to bring harmony to this city, but you always stood in my way, treating it as a meaningless side project, calling me Naïve and foolish, but look at me now!" Amon replied, leaving them all speechless.

"You've gone too far, Eamon! You strode for harmony, but all you're bringing to the city is dissonance!" Li argued.

Amon's eyes twitched under his mask as he snarled, "I AM AMON! And only by my will shall Republic City know True Harmony!"

Amon clenched his fists as he set his glare upon them, "After I'm done with Republic City, I will take Ba Sing Se! The North and South poles! The Fire Nation! And in time the world will know True Harmony! _My_ Harmony!"

Amon's shadow of overwhelming darkness shrouded the room, "Come! Fight me!"

Amon raised his hands to them, taunting them to attack.

Zu and Lin punched out, but nothing came of it as Zu growled, "Blocking our bending again? You always loved to fight dirty didn't you!"

Zu began charging in, intending to use his superior physical strength to bring down Amon, but to his surprise, Amon swept up a wave of shadows into his face, temporarily blinding him and breaking his guard.

Amon kicked out, striking Zu's Abdomen, Chest and Chin in quick succession, finishing with a spinning kick to his neck, blasting him off to the side and crashing into a wall.

The crashing of Zu awaking Joseph from his unconsciousness, seeing Amon battle with Lin, Li and Kang, "The Shadows... they can't bend..."

Joseph slowly swirled his fingers, a sphere of light growing in his hand, "But I can!"

Joseph flicked the Sphere of Light into the wall, bouncing off into the centre of the room, letting loose a brilliant light and snuffing out Amon's Shadow.

The trio looked over to Joseph whilst Amon's eyes burned with a fiery rage, whereas Kang, Li and Lin's brimmed with glee.

Amon turned to face the trio as Lin kicked up a boulder at Amon, striking and knocking him back towards his throne, but as the boulder crumbled, he launched himself at Lin, mercilessly striking out with his fist. But Lin caught his attack in the palms of her hands, the sheer force pushing the sturdy police chief back as the draft of Amon's speed threw Li and Kang off their balance.

Lin broke away from Amon's attack, kicking up a pillar into his gut, then delivering an uppercut to his chin, blasting Amon up, but as Lin smirked, the Masked man's head faced the ceiling, his lower inhumanly spinning around as his foot out kicked out and struck her with his heel, blasting her into the Pillar which restrained Claire.

"That... didn't look right..." Li muttered as he observed Amon's movements.

"No kidding..." Kang replied.

Amon turned his attention to them, dashing in at a relentless pace. However, Li froze Amon's foot to the ground, tripping the masked man over.

Li quickly leapt in with water in hand, supported by Kang who charged in beside him, but to their surprise, Amon stood up on his frozen foot and took control of Li's water, bending it into a pole of ice and swatting them away.

Both tumbled onto the floor, Li's vision disorientated, but he could hear Kang standing back up, "Kang! Don't!"

Li flailed towards him, but Kang looked down at him with a sorrowful gaze, "Someone needs to finish this..."

Kang marched forward, but Li grasped his ankle, "Not you! We can't have you going through this twice!"

Kang let out a heavy sigh, looking to Li, before shaking off his grip, emerging before Amon, standing before his old friend with one goal in mind, taking in a sharp breath and clenching his fists.

Amon placed his hands behind his back, gazing to his friend, "You don't have to do this, why don't we-"

"Shut up!" Kang snapped as Amon's hands swayed to his side, "No more words, Eamon... this ends, right here."

Kang slowly marched towards Amon, sprinting as he got closer, fire rushing through his veins, "Then come, Kang!"

The mad inventor leapt, his arms circling at his side, lightning crackling along his fingers as he brought them to a point towards Amon's face

But as Kang approached, Amon struck his arms between Kang's separating them, the Lightning ejecting from Kang's fingertips, blasting two holes through the ceiling as Amon mercilessly kicked Kang's gut.

But with a tightened core and burning resolve, Kang remained steadfast, wincing before slamming his head into Amon, knocking the masked man back into his throne.

Kang empowered his fist with a mighty blaze of fire, but Amon deflected the attack, unleashing the fiery stream through the walls of city hall.

The two engaged each other, Kang with mighty blasts of Red blazing Fire and Amon with merciless strikes of black, abyssal shadow.

Amon broke through Kang's guard, decisively striking his chest and unleashing a powerful wave of shadow, almost overwhelming Kang, but he stood fast amongst it, taking in a deep breath, glaring at Amon.

And with a mighty cry, Kang unleashed an indomitable blast of Fire, knocking Amon off his balance and ceasing the Shadow's barrage. The mad inventor generated lightning on his fingertips as he charged towards Amon, leaping and spinning around, aiming the lightning at the underside of the Masked man's jaw, but Amon grappled his wrist which held the Lightning, forming a shadowy blade in his free hand, intending to impale Kang.

However, with his free hand, Kang caught Amon's arm, clutching it tightly and locking the two in a stalemate as they each pushed their weapons towards one another.

"You think you can do it again? Kill someone you love?" Amon taunted him.

But Kang scoffed, "You don't get to play that card... Amon..."

Kang broke through Amon's grasp, jabbing his fingertips into the underside of Amon's jaw and hoisting him up, "It's like Zu said: The Eamon I knew is dead. You are nothing... but a husk!"

The Lightning erupted, surging directly into Amon's head as it exploded, the Lightning blasted through the ceiling and into the skies, a spectacular display of power catching the awe of Republic City's citizens.

Amon's body fell to the floor, but the mask remained in Kang's hand. Amon's clothes deflated, a black shadowy mist dissipating from them.

Kang silently gazed at the mask, as Claire, Joseph, Khana and Ty Lee all fell from the pillars, knocking them awake, "What happened?" Claire asked as she looked around at the carnage, seeing herself on top of Lin, "Oh... sorry, Lin!"

Claire stood up, forming water around her hands and healing Lin, causing her to reawaken.

The Avatar quickly looked around, seeing Zu unconscious within the wall, sprinting over to him and healing him, then dashing over to Li to heal him.

Soon after, everyone got back on their own feet, looking around, and seeing Kang still silently stood with Amon's mask in hand.

"Is it over?" Zu asked as he and Li slowly approached.

And Kang nodded, "It's... over."

Kang gazed upon the mask, a lump growing in his throat as the governors barged into City Hall, seeing everyone standing triumphant over Amon, "Of course, we're late for the final battle," Hou said, as the other Governors approached, bowing to Claire with great respect.

"We are grateful that you defeated Amon, Avatar!" Sheng said.

But Claire shook her head, "It wasn't me..."

Claire moved aside and gestured to Kang, "I think... Kang did it..."

The shocked governors all looked at him as Kang, Zu and Li walked down to them, "You... did it, Kang?" the surprised Jing asked.

But Kang looked away, clutching the mask, "Yeah... but you can tell the citizens The Avatar did it. I don't want any of the glory here..."

Kang walked through them, hunched over as his actions weighed down upon him.

"Are you sure that's-" Claire asked, but Zu raised his hand to her, shaking his head as he and Li followed Kang whilst an unsure Lin looked at them, swallowing her pride before running after them, quickly catching up to Zu, "Do you mind if I... tag along?"

A smile broke over Zu's face at the sound of Lin's request, "I think he'd like that!"

The four ventured back to the Derelict estate, leaving everyone else behind as they curiously gazing at the four as they watched them leave.

"I think there's a story there that we don't know about..." Khana said as she approached Claire.

"Anyway, with Amon dead and gone. We can finally bring peace and order back to the city!" Gao happily said as he crossed his arms.

"Are ye sure ye're alright with taking responsibility for Amon's defeat, lassie?" Joseph asked.

"If Kang wants me to... then I won't argue," Claire sombrely replied, gazing towards the exit of City Hall.

Over the next week, peace slowly came back to Republic City, the Governors tearing down Amon's Throne and restoring their stand, reinstalling the pews, and fixing the damage caused by Kang and Amon's duel.

The remaining police force rebuilt their Station with the help of Zu, bringing it back to its former glory, but no matter what they did, there would always be an everlasting scar of the night Amon struck back against the City.

Most of the citizens hailed Claire as a hero, but others were sceptical, not believing the word of the Governors. And although she accepted the praise, although this discomforted the Avatar, she knew if she didn't accept the praise, it would constantly remind Kang of that day.

Claire, Khana and Joseph stood outside Kang's Lab, awaiting his return from Zu and Li's house, "Do you think he'll be alright now?" Khana asked.

"I hope so..." Claire nervously replied.

The trio saw Kang approaching them in the distance with his head held higher than the last time they saw him.

The two ladies rushed over to him with Joseph shortly following behind, "How are you doing, Kang?" Claire eagerly asked.

"Better than before... Did you two need something?" Kang asked.

Khana nudged Claire to tell him first, "After the events that happened here... I've decided I need to return to the White Lotus Compound, there's still a lot I don't know about, and if I've learnt anything from this adventure, it's that I am not as ready as I thought I was to be the Avatar."

Kang nodded, "Well, you're not wrong there... will you be needing a ride back?"

But Joseph interjected, placing his hand on his daughter's shoulder, "I'll be able to take the lass back there on my borrowed airship."

"If you're leaving, would you mind taking this with you?" Kang replied as he handed a wide box to Joseph.

Claire's father quizzically looked to Kang but accepted the gift.

Khana nudged the mad inventor's arm, "I was hoping you could fly me back to the Fire Nation Palace."

"Sure, I'll take you right now!" Kang replied, escorting Khana to The Magnificent Turtle Duck.

Joseph led Claire to the Airship, still in the place he left it. The two ascended to the skies, seeing The Magnificent Turtle Duck soar off into the distance, flying west towards the Fire Nation.

Claire slumped down inside the Airship whilst Joseph piloted it out towards the sky, "Hey! Donnae go relaxing! I need ye to guide the way!"

Whilst Joseph heartily laughed, Claire stood back up and pointed South-east, towards the White Lotus Compound.

Kang and Khana flew for several hours before the Palace came into view, landing before the front door, but to their surprise, Fire Lord Zuko came out to greet them personally.

"Kang, could you wait here for a few minutes?" Khana asked.

The sceptical mad inventor looked back at her, quickly twigging what she was doing, "Sure!"

Kang got comfortable whilst Khana raced out of The Magnificent Turtle Duck and over to Zuko, standing tall before kneeling before him, "Fire Lord Zuko. I have a request!"

But Zuko tapped the Kyoshi Warrior on her Pauldron, "There's no need to kneel, Khana."

The Fire Lord's words shocked Khana as she stood back up, "Now, what's your request?" Zuko asked her with a smile.

"I... Wish to travel with The Avatar, to be her protector, and... her friend!"

Zuko softly chuckled, "You can, Khana."

Khana giddily smiled, bowing to the Fire Lord one last time, "Thank you, Fire Lord Zuko!"

Khana ran back to The Magnificent Turtle Duck, "Make sure the other Kyoshi Warriors and Royal Guards protect you to their last breath!"

Zuko chuckled once more, "I will don't you worry!"

Khana boarded The Magnificent Turtle Duck once again whilst Kang smirked, engaging the engines once more, "So, White Lotus Compound or Republic City, Khana?"

"Republic City, I'm sure Claire will return soon. So for now, I'll wait... see what the city has to offer."

Kang smiled before the two soared back through the skies to Republic City, awaiting the return of their friend.


End file.
